SUSHRUTA

Journal of Health Policy & Opinions

What can Medical Students do in the Coronavirus Pandemic?

Triya Chakravorty BA(Oxon)

School of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, UK

Triya.chakravorty@queens.ox.ac.uk

Key words

Cite as: Chakravorty T. What can medical students do in a coronavirus pandemic. Sushruta

2020 (Mar)vol13(1):28-29 epub 14.03.20

Introduction

situation. It will become even more unlikely if the

In the last two days, the World Health

situation in the UK escalates to the level reached

Organisation

(WHO) have characterised the

in the Hubei province, where entire hospitals were

coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak as a pandemic¹.

transformed into COVID-19 treatment facillites³.

This is not something to be taken lightly, and in a

time when the capacity of the National Health

Looking into the future, it will be difficult to

Service (NHS) will be tested, it is important to

completely halt medical education, as this will

consider what role medical students can play in

seriously impact the competence of the doctors

the crisis.

who will join the workforce in the future. That

being said, there are some alternative methods of

Should medical schools be closed?

clinical teaching which medical schools could

Pandemic outbreaks represent a unique challenge

consider. During the severe acute respiratory

to medical education. The closure of medical

syndrome

(SARS) epidemic in

2003, several

schools or suspension of patient contact will of no

medical schools which had barred medical

doubt be disruptive to education; however, one

students from patient contact instead used web-

must consider the risks versus benefits of having

based learning and mannequin-based simulation

medical students on the wards. Some medical

training in order to minimise disruptions to

schools in the UK are already taking extreme

medical education⁴.

Given the recent

measures. For example, Cambridge University

improvements in technologies such as virtual

have cancelled their final year clinical

reality, it may become necessary to utilise this

examinations². These examinations require face-

type of

“patient surrogates” further in the

to-face contacts with patients, so cancellation is

upcoming months.

understandable given the potential risks

associated.

Should medical students join the NHS workforce?

The UK’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty

As I write this article, my own institution, the

revealed in a statement earlier this month that the

University of Oxford, have announced that all

government is considering drafting medical

clinical teaching will be suspended until further

students into the workforce, as well as

notice, giving the reason that this will allow clinical

encouraging retired General Practitioners to

tutors to spend the majority of their time treating

return^5,6. If necessary, final year medical students

patients. This seems inevitable as it is unlikely that

may be able to take on some of the roles of

medical students will be able to receive adequate

foundation year one doctors, in order to help

teaching from hospital staff in the current

shoulder the burden. In pervious health crises,

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similar actions have taken place. For example,

remember that medical schools have a

during the

1918 influenza pandemic, medical

responsibility to ensure that all healthcare

students in the United States of America were fast-

professionals (including students) are well-trained

tracked through medical school in order to

in the use of personal protective equipment and

increase the number of healthcare workers

have knowledge of infection control measures.

available to help on the front line⁷.

First year clinical medical students like myself are

Conclusion

faced with a unique dilemma. Our relatively

In the WHO pandemic response, the fourth and

limited clinical exposure and skills restricts our

final stage is “innovate and learn”. I believe there

ability to make a meaningful contribution on the

is much to be learnt about how to continue

wards. However, being a part of the healthcare

medical education in a health crisis. The whole

community and future members of the NHS front-

world will be playing catch up during the

line, I believe we do have a responsibility to

aftermath of the pandemic, and as medical

contribute where we can.

students, we will have to do the same. Learning

how to deliver care in a crisis will help us prepare

Although it is true that even observing ward

to for pandemics which may arise in the future, at

activities will provide us with valuable lessons, we

a time when we will make up the majority of the

must be practical when considering how the

workforce.

presence of non-essential staff such as ourselves

may increase the risk of virus transmission in

Where to find the latest guidance about

hospitals and out in the community. Our reasons

coronavirus:

for being on the wards would be purely for our

1. The Public Health England Website

own educational benefit, rather than for the

2. Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)

immediate care of patients. The General Medical

Website

Council’s

“Good Medical Practice” applies to

3. The University of Oxford Coronavirus

medical students as well as doctors. Within this

updates Page

document, it states that “the care of your patient

is your first concern”⁸. For first year clinical

References:

students, this may mean refraining from the

WHO Director-General's opening remarks

wards, as the risks to patients’ health may not

at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 11

outweigh the benefits of continuing our clinical

March 2020,

education in this manner in the short term.

<https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detai

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Medical students have a responsibility to act

remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-

sensibly and do what we can to minimise our own

19---11-march-2020 > (2020).

risk and risk to others in our networks. This

Twitter,

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<https://twitter.com/Laithalexander/statu

hygiene, practicing social distancing and self-

s/1238085188573413377 > (2020).

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Qin, A. & Wee, S. ‘No Way Out’: In China,

rife, conveying clear messages to friends and

Coronavirus Takes Toll on Other Patients,

family online may also be a good idea. In terms of

<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/03/

volunteering, there are many non-patient facing

world/asia/china-coronavirus-

roles that medical students can be involved in.

cancer.html > (2020).

These include helping to run the NHS 111 hotline

Lim, E., Oh, V., Koh, D.-R. & Seet, R. The

and driving vans with ventilators to satellite

Challenges of "Continuing Medical

intensive care units. So if you would like to help,

Education" in a Pandemic Era. Annals of

then I recommend contacting your medical school

the Academy of Medicine, Singapore 38,

to ask what you can do. It is also important to

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Legraien, L. Government is considering

using medical students to help in

coronavirus outbreak,

<http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/clinical/cli

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doctors to help deal with coronavirus

outbreak,

<http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/clinical/cli

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