Background As the disease caused by the novel coronavirus has spread globally, there has been significant economic instability in the healthcare systems. This reality was especially accentuated in Ecuador where, the shortage of healthcare workers combined with cultural and macroeconomic factors has led Ecuador to face the most aggressive outbreak in Latin America. In this context, the participation of final-year medical students on the front line is indispensable. Appropriate training on COVID-19 is an urgent requirement that universities and health systems must guarantee. We aimed to describe the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Ecuadorian final-year medical students that could potentially guide the design of better medical education curricula regarding COVID-19. Methods This was a cross-sectional 33-item online survey conducted between April 6 to April 2020 assessing the knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and prognosis toward COVID-19 in Ecuadorian final-year medical students. It was sent by email, Facebook, and WhatsApp. Results A total of 309 students responded to the survey. Out of which 88% of students scored high (≥ 70% correct) for knowledge of the disease. The majority of students were pessimistic about possible government actions, which is reflected in the negative attitude towards the control of COVID-19 and volunteering during the outbreak in Ecuador (77%, and 58% of the students, respectively). Moreover, 91% of students said they did not have adequate protective equipment. The latter finding was significantly associated with negative attitudes. Conclusions Although a large number of students displayed negative attitudes, the non-depreciable percentage of students who were willing to volunteer and the coexisting high level of knowledge displayed by students, suggests that Ecuador has a capable upcoming workforce that could benefit from an opportunity to strengthen, improve and advance their training in preparation for COVID-19. Not having personal protective equipment was significantly associated to negative attitudes. Providing the necessary tools and creating a national curriculum may be one of the most effective ways to ensure all students are trained, whilst simultaneously focusing on the students’ most pressing concerns. With this additional training, negative attitudes will improve and students will be better qualified.

Background: As the disease caused by the new coronavirus has spread globally, economic instability in healthcare systems has been significant, and the lack of knowledge, positive attitudes and appropriate practices among people has led to the magnification of this disease. This reality is especially accentuated in Ecuador where, although many healthcare workers have been called to help in the regions most affected, the shortage of them combined with cultural and macroeconomic factors have led Ecuador to face the most aggressive outbreak in Latin America. In this context, the participation on the front line of final year medical students is indispensable. For that reason, appropriate training on COVID-19 for final year medical students is an urgent need that universities and health systems must guarantee. We aimed to describe the knowledge, attitudes and practices in Ecuadorian final year medical students in order to identify the knowledge gaps, perceptions and behavior patterns which could guide the design of better medical education curricula regarding COVID-19. Methods: This was a cross-sectional 33-item online survey conducted between April 6 to April 20 assessing the knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and prognosis toward COVID-19 in Ecuadorian final year medical students. It was sent by email and by Facebook and WhatsApp. Results: A total of 309 students responded to the survey. 88% of students scored high (> 70% correct) for knowledge of the disease. The majority of students were pessimistic about possible government actions, which is reflected in the negative attitude towards the control of COVID-19 in Ecuador and volunteering during the outbreak (77%, and 58% of the students, respectively). Moreover, 91% of students said they did not have adequate protective equipment or training in their health facilities. Conclusions: The high level of students knowledge, with coexisting negative attitudes, suggests Ecuador has a capable upcoming workforce that could benefit from an opportunity to strengthen, improve and advance their training in preparation for COVID-19. Creating a national curriculum may be one of the most effective ways for all students to be trained, while simultaneously focusing on the students most pressing concerns. Hopefully with this, negative attitudes will improve and students will be better qualified. Keywords: Ecuador, medical students, COVID-19.