Transforming Disruption Into Innovation: A Partnership Between the COVID-19 Medical Student Response Team and the University of British Columbia

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic caused substantial disruptions in medical education. The University of British Columbia (UBC) MD Undergraduate Program (MDUP) is the sixth-largest medical school in North America. MDUP students and faculty developed a joint response to these disruptions to address the curriculum and public health challenges that the pandemic posed.

Students as Community Vaccinators: Implementation of A Service-Learning COVID-19 Vaccination Program

“…Most notably, perhaps, was the accelerated graduation and deployment of senior medical students as new physicians [10,11]. Students have also screened patients for COVID-19 [12], provided telemedicine support [13], worked at patient call centers [14], and facilitated the reopening of student run free-clinics [15].…”

“…Most notably, perhaps, was the accelerated graduation and deployment of senior medical students as new physicians [ 10 , 11 ]. Students have also screened patients for COVID-19 [ 12 ], provided telemedicine support [ 13 ], worked at patient call centers [ 14 ], and facilitated the reopening of student run free-clinics [ 15 ]. Collectively these examples show that although medical students are generally accepted to be non-essential workers [ 16 ]; they do represent a large pool of untapped providers with tremendous potential.…”