The impact of COVID-19 on medical students’ practical skills and hygiene behavior regarding venipuncture: a case control study

Abstract

Background Despite their importance to current and future patient care, medical students’ hygiene behaviors and acquisition of practical skills have rarely been studied in previous observational study. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical student’s hygiene and practical skills. Methods This case-control study assessed the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on hygiene behavior by contrasting the practical skills and hygiene adherence of 371 medical students post the pandemic associated lockdown in March 2020 with that of 355 medical students prior to the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. Students’ skills were assessed using an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). Their skills were then compared based on their results in hygienic venipuncture and the total OSCE score. Results During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, medical students demonstrated an increased level of compliance regarding hand hygiene before (prior COVID-19: 83.7%; during COVID-19: 94.9%; p < 0.001) and after patient contact (prior COVID-19: 19.4%; during COVID-19: 57.2%; p = 0.000) as well as disinfecting the puncture site correctly (prior COVID-19: 83.4%; during COVID-19: 92.7%; p < 0.001). Prior to the pandemic, students were more proficient in practical skills, such as initial venipuncture (prior COVID-19: 47.6%; during COVID-19: 38%; p < 0.041), patient communication (prior COVID-19: 85.9%; during COVID-19: 74.1%; p < 0.001) and structuring their work process (prior COVID-19: 74.4%; during COVID-19: 67.4%; p < 0.024). Conclusion Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic sensitized medical students’ attention and adherence to hygiene requirements, while simultaneously reducing the amount of practice opportunities, thus negatively affecting their practical skills. The latter development may have to be addressed by providing additional practice opportunities for students as soon as the pandemic situation allows.

Experiences Shared by the (Future) Public Health Workforce during the COVD-19 Pandemic in Germany: Results of A Survey on Workload, Work Content, and Related Challenges among Students and Young Professionals

“…To our knowledge, this is the first study focusing on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on workload, work content, and related challenges among the public health workforce in Germany, which includes data on students and young professionals. Previous studies in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic have either focused on specific aspects -particularly related to digital teaching -within medical students or healthcare personnel [22][23][24] or on mental health issues due to social isolation [1,25]. Although knowledge is available that as an adverse effect of the COVID-19 pandemic education and job training have been disrupted or delayed for many young adults and traditional ways of working encountered serious challenges [26], there has been limited attention on the public health workforce [27,28] in Germany.…”

Experiences Shared by the (Future) Public Health Workforce during the COVD-19 Pandemic in Germany: Results of a Survey on Workload, Work Content, and Related Challenges among Students and Young Professionals

“…To our knowledge, this is the first study focusing on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on workload, work content, and related challenges among the public health workforce in Germany which includes data on students and young professionals. Previous studies in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic have either focused on specific aspects—particularly related to digital teaching—within medical students or healthcare personnel [ 24 , 25 , 26 ] or on mental health issues due to social isolation [ 1 , 27 ]. Although knowledge is available that as an adverse effect of the COVID-19 pandemic education and job training have been disrupted or delayed for many young adults and traditional ways of working encountered serious challenges [ 28 ], there has been limited attention on the public health workforce [ 29 , 30 ] in Germany.…”

The Evaluation of Generative AI Should Include Repetition to Assess Stability (Preprint)

“…For example, Gilson et al explored the performance of ChatGPT on the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 and Step 2 exams, discovering that ChatGPT's performance exceeded the passing score for third-year medical students in the Step 1 [8]. There are more studies exploring ChatGPT's performance on other medical exams, such as the Japanese and German Medical Licensing Examinations [9,10], the Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Certification Examinations [11], and the UK Standardized Admission Tests [12]. Beyond examinations, many articles have discussed the potential applications of ChatGPT in medicine from various perspectives.…”