Since March 2020, the way we live our lives has changed completely. From taking classes to going to the office, on vacations, and meeting our friends & family, everything is different now. Although we have been trying to play our roles in these tough times, and do whatever we can to help, medical students have been playing an important role in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The virus has upended medical education. Like with everything else, there has been widespread uncertainty about the role of medical students during these times, and their participation in clinical administration has varied across different institutions.

A few educational institutes don’t allow students to interact with sick people at all, saying it is considered against the principles. Others have recruited them for medical hospital-based roles due to lack of adequate resources and a few have granted students early graduation so that they act as frontline clinicians.

Medical institutes have been offering the students various opportunities that help reduce or prevent medical workforce shortages. Let’s take a look.

Traditional Role of a Medical Student

We know that med students are only learners, not employees, and certainly not MDs as of yet, however, this frame of thought fails to acknowledge the fact that they are not only learners but are clinicians and medical trainees as well.

The main role of med students is to learn medicine. Apart from this, they have to care for sick people as well. From calling consults and responding to pages to discharge planning and taking notes, there are various jobs they have to do.

Therefore, “simply teaching medical students during this pandemic and not letting them interact with the sick people, will be counterproductive and harmful in the years to come”, says Bella Spark, a professional writer on medical topics at papersowl.com. “Allowing medical students to serve in clinical roles will not only benefit the sick people but will reduce the workload of the already overworked medical staff”. 

In the Spanish flu outbreak of 1918, med students cared for sick people. Similarly, in the polio epidemic of 1952 in Denmark, students were tasked with ventilating the sick people. Taking precedent from history, medical school students, medical colleges and universities in the US, Italy and the UK are allowing the students to graduate early, provided they agree to serve on the frontlines.

We shouldn’t let the medical healthcare system completely collapse before inviting the students to serve. Allowing them to help will improve medical patient care and stop the medical system from having a personnel crisis.

Roles for Medical Pupil Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic

There are many concerns about the risks of infection to sick people, to the students, the personal protective equipment shortages, and other issues. We know that these risks are there and warrant careful consideration, however, they can be easily mitigated if proper medical measures are taken.

Outpatient Monitoring

A medical trainee can be allowed to assist with routine outpatient care. They can take medical histories of the sick people, take them for lab tests, document their visits, take notes, etc. Even with a pandemic going on, we have to provide care to sick people who have chronic medical conditions.

For instance, pregnant women will need routine check-ins, discharged sick people will have to come in for follow-ups, etc even in the pandemic. A lot of these tasks can be done via telemedicine, and reduce the risk of infections and transmissions of coronavirus disease.

Inpatient Monitoring

Moreover, the students can supervise those patients who are admitted to the hospitals but don’t have coronavirus disease 2019. With the supervision and interim guidance of attending physicians, senior residents, etc. they can carry their own patients.

According to the 2020 APR stats and an article on Google scholar, there are many factors why medical faculty is against allowing students to do their job and urge them to stay home. However, the pros outweigh the cons and the lives of many people can be saved if they are allowed to do their job.

Remote Supervision

Since March, the way we study has changed, the way we live, fight, and do everyday tasks have changed. Medical students can also assist remotely in taking care of people suffering from Covid-19. There are many medical patients who have mild symptoms and don’t need to be admitted. 

However, they still have to be monitored in case things go south. The med students can review their charts, draft notes, monitor their mental health, make sure tests are done, and follow up their routine without direct patient contact. 

All of this will reduce the burden on medical teams and will help in taking care of the community as well. The lack of possibility of remote jobs for young med trainees has left them looking for alternate ways to keep serving their nations and the health care systems. 

Telephone hotlines can be created and manned by young trainees to check on the health of patients, monitor their response, and provide them support. Moreover, they can guide and monitor the patients not requiring critical care through video conferencing tools. 

Final Word

The course of training for medical students has changed. While other students have been taking online classes through google scholar and shifting towards remote options, doing this is not possible for med school students and is a public issue.

Medical schools and universities are deciding how to continue in these harsh and unprecedented times, and whether they should graduate to work on the frontlines or not. We recommend that institutes shouldn’t stop a student from offering voluntary services. 

They are not only learners and shouldn’t only study some random health article to gain knowledge. They need hands-on knowledge about health issues. Rather, a student has responsibilities to his community. 

Therefore, they should be allowed to fulfill their obligations and duties by participating in community-based services.