The Role of Medical Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Miller, David; Pierson, Leah; Doernberg, Samuel

doi:10.7326/m20-1281

Cited by 257 publications

(328 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Thus, medical students in India are in a state of preparedness to serve the community, with minor deficits in the knowledge base, which can be honed by online training as previously proposed.3 Being familiar with healthcare systems, they could be utilised for screening services, co-ordination of interdepartmental efforts, or for establishing telehealth community education/outreach programme through the use of which can be a simple yet elegant tool to slow down community transmission [12].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Undergraduate medical students in India are underprepared to be the young-taskforce against Covid-19 amid prevalent fears

Agarwal

Davalbhakta

Misra³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background. The healthcare system in India faces an acute shortage of front-line doctors to fight the Covid-19. Thus, the recruitment of undergraduate medical students into the health care force is being considered by many state governments. A survey was conducted amongst undergraduate medical students to understand their knowledge, attitude, and preparedness towards the ongoing pandemic. Methods. An anonymized survey on a cloud-based website (Survey Monkey) comprising 33 questions was served to medical students. Results. Of 616 (24.6%) respondents among 2500 invitees across six medical schools in India, most (54.1%) were in the final year of their undergraduate training program. Knowledge regarding viral transmission, clinical features, laboratory diagnosis, and drugs being tried out in Covid-19 was adequate among most students. However, understanding of the incubation period 123 (20%) and time to symptoms 30 (4.8%) was less than satisfactory. Three-fourths (75%) were unaware of the treatment guidelines for Covid-19, and one-quarter (155, 25.1%) were unaware of the required precautions during management. Moreover, 179 (29.1%) were unaware that Covid-19 causes an asymptomatic or minor illness in young individuals. Nearly 70% were reluctant to attend clinics from fear of getting infected or passing on to others. Besides, 250 (40.6%) were not updated on Covid-19, and most (486, 78.9%) resorted to social media for information on Covid-19. Conclusion. Prevalent fears and inadequate understanding of Covid-19 suggest that undergraduate medical students are not prepared to be the front-line taskforce in the current pandemic.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Undergraduate medical students in India are underprepared to be the young-taskforce against Covid-19 amid prevalent fears

Agarwal

Davalbhakta

Misra³

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Although this can be the case it fails to acknowledge their roles as clinicians-in training. The role of medical students is not only to learn medicine but also care for patients [4]. Medical students can take care of tasks like taking histories, laboratory works, patient education, documenting visits, and framing questions about COVID-19 [6,7].…”

Section: Involvement Of Final Year Medical Students In Hospital Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The other aspect of this is that a medical student acting solely as a learner could introduce unnecessary risks for patients and as well as other clinicians. Moreover, students can consume the personal protective equipment (PPE) kits which are already in short supply and can additionally act as vectors for the transmission of the virus [4,5]. These risks cannot be justi ed by medical education.…”

Section: Involvement Of Final Year Medical Students In Hospital Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Involvement of Final year Medical Students in Hospital work during COVID-19 pandemic: A students’ perspective

Rawat¹,

Joshi²,

Joshi³

et al. 2020

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Background: The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has upended medical education. This pandemic has risen uncertainty over the start of the normal routine of studies in medical universities. Amidst the worldwide shortage of doctors, there is widespread dilemma and disagreement regarding the role of the medical students during this pandemic. Medical education is suspended and the students are barred from being direct medical providers unless there is a critical need for the additional healthcare workforce. Considering these facts we have done a survey amongst medical students of pre-final and final year to know and evaluate their opinion and outlook regarding their involvement in the hospital work at the time of the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic. Materials and Method: This is a cross-sectional study among the clinic going medical students of Government Doon Medical College Dehradun, India. It is used to know their opinion regarding their voluntary initiative to actively participate and usefulness in the hospital works while going through their classes and hospital postings. We have circulated a questionnaire among 385 medical students to know their mindset and formulate a plan to include them in the future clinical hospital works in case the pandemic situation worsens.Statistical analysis is performed using SPSS version 25. Chi-square test was used to evaluate the association between the two variables. A two-tailed p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Out of 294 respondents 62.2% had a high motivation to work in the hospital. This was synergized by the worldwide appreciation of doctors according to 88.8% of students. A sense of duty towards the patients was clear by the responses which surpassed the fear of the disease and the belief of being a better doctor (94.2%). Conclusion: The majority of medical students were highly motivated to be a part of the hospital workforce and help to fight this apocalyptic pandemic.

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“…Dear Editor -COVID-19 has had an unprecedented impact on medical education worldwide leading to the cancellation of lectures, placements, exams, and electives, and ultimately the closure of medical schools [1]. The consequences of this disruption for the development of medical students, their mental health, and preparedness for life as doctors are still to be determined [2].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%