Article Text
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted unprecedented global disruption. For medical schools, this has manifested as examination and curricular restructuring as well as significant changes to clinical attachments. With the available evidence suggesting that medical students’ mental health status is already poorer than that of the general population, with academic stress being a chief predictor, such changes are likely to have a significant effect on these students. In addition, there is an assumption that these students are an available resource in terms of volunteerism during a crisis. This conjecture should be questioned; however, as those engaging in such work without sufficient preparation are susceptible to moral trauma and adverse health outcomes. This, in conjunction with the likelihood of future pandemics, highlights the need for ‘pandemic preparedness’ to be embedded in the medical curriculum.
- education
- education/programs
- emergency medicine
This article is made freely available for use in accordance with BMJ’s website terms and conditions for the duration of the covid-19 pandemic or until otherwise determined by BMJ. You may use, download and print the article for any lawful, non-commercial purpose (including text and data mining) provided that all copyright notices and trade marks are retained.
https://bmj.com/coronavirus/usageStatistics from Altmetric.com
Footnotes
Twitter @LorcanOB
Correction notice The paper has been updated since first published to update Author details, Acknowledgements and Contributorship.
Contributors Each of the authors contributed significantly to this manuscript in its entirety.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent for publication Not required.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Data availability statement Data sharing not applicable as no datasets generated and/or analysed for this study. Not applicable.
Read the full text or download the PDF:
Other content recommended for you
- Preparing medical students for a pandemic: a systematic review of student disaster training programmes
- Systematic review of medical student willingness to volunteer and preparedness for pandemics and disasters
- Levels of stress in medical students due to COVID-19
- What are the barriers and facilitators of volunteering among healthcare students during the COVID-19 pandemic? A Saudi-based cross-sectional study
- Exploring the psychological impact of working during COVID-19 on medical and nursing students: a qualitative study
- Are Belgian military students in medical sciences better educated in disaster medicine than their civilian colleagues?
- What medical students think about measurement of their well-being: cross-sectional survey and qualitative interviews
- Medical education challenges and innovations during COVID-19 pandemic
- Mental burden and perception of the study situation among undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study and comparison of dental and medical students
- Mental health condition of college students compared to non-students during COVID-19 lockdown: the CONFINS study