Covid-19: medical students should not work outside their competency, says BMA

Harvey, Anna

doi:10.1136/bmj.m1197

Cited by 20 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…This emphasizes that students could undertake certain tasks with a symbiotic advantage for both doctors and students, and is consistent with ideas by Miller and colleagues [2]. However, it is doubtful if these students are sufficiently trained to undertake roles with more responsibility, such as assisting with invasive ventilation of patients [17].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Involvement of Medical Students During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study

Drexler¹,

Hambrecht²,

Oldhafer³

2020

Cureus

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Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic affects the education of medical students around the world and countries have had differing responses in dealing with this dynamic situation. The role of medical students in fighting this pandemic is controversial and it is yet to be elucidated how they can best be of service. The aim of this study is to evaluate the working fields of volunteering students and the impact of the pandemic on final year students from a student's perspective. Methods: An anonymous online survey was conducted amongst 219 medical students from Hamburg (Germany), using an institutional online data collection program. Results: A total of 137 questionnaires (63.5%) were completed. Of these, 97 participants were students from academic year three to five (70.8%) and 40 students were in the final year of medical school (29.2%). Of the 97 students from academic year three to five, 68 students (70.1%) signed up for voluntary duties during the pandemic. Interestingly, only 25.0% of the students were called for voluntary work in hospitals or health authorities. Final year students had already been working in hospitals since before the outbreak, with 35.0% of them assisting doctors in the treatment of COVID-19 positive patients during their placements. Using a 5-Point Likert Scale, the students who volunteered self-assessed their work as more useful and received more gratitude than final year students (p<0.01). Conclusions: The majority of medical students are willing to make a significant contribution in the response to COVID-19 and do not wish to be overlooked. Furthermore, the current pandemic offers novel educational opportunities for medical students.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Involvement of Medical Students During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study

Drexler¹,

Hambrecht²,

Oldhafer³

2020

Cureus

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“…At the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in early 2020, the commitment of medical students as supporters of health care staff and their possible roles in the system were discussed more than ever before (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)19,27). This discussion led us to perform a survey of medical students voluntarily working in a large-scale SARS-CoV-2 cohort study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whether their short training is enough to cope with di cult situations, both medically and psychologically, is unclear. The British Medical Association recently emphasized that "medical students should not work outside their competency" and warned of unsafe work practices (19). Furthermore, no su cient data are available on the students' preparedness for the commitment and the effects of this work during the crisis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medical Students’ Commitment during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: Preparedness, Motivation, and Impact on Students’ Skills

Müller

Heymanns

Harder

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Abstract Background: During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, many authors have suggested a commitment of medical students to support overworked health care staff. However, whether the students are prepared for such an occupation remains unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate medical students’ preparedness for a commitment in the pandemic and to assess the impact on their skills and attitudes.Methods: In April 2020, the CoronaPreventMainz (CPM) study was initiated to test 3300 employees with direct patient contact at the University Medical Center Mainz. To accomplish the huge logistic effort, medical students were recruited as support staff.Using a web-based questionnaire, the participating students were asked 27 questions covering six different topics.Results: Of the 75 recruited students, 63 (84.0%) participated in this survey. The median age was 24 years, and 66.6% (n = 42) were female. The vast majority agreed that students should be used as voluntary helpers during this crisis (87.3%) and had the feeling of contributing in the fight against the pandemic (90.5%). Most of the students (80.6%) even reported an improvement in their practical skills. Fear of self-infection was low (7.9%), and overextending situations occurred for just 3.2%. However, less than one-fifth (19.4%) of the students felt prepared for the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic by medical school, and two-thirds (67.7%) demanded special preparation. Conclusion: Through their commitment, the medical students felt that they were taking part in the fight against the pandemic. However, only a few felt well-prepared by medical school and the students’ need for special preparation courses is huge. Therefore, single-center initiatives can only be the beginning. Dedicated courses on how to support health care staff in natural disasters should be integrated into the medical curriculum to better prepare medical students for the next crisis.

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“…Medical students who want to volunteer must have the endorsement of their parent medical school. As with previous guidance, students continue to be expected to work only within their competency 5…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Covid-19: medical students should not work outside their competency, says BMA

Abstract: Medical students who are employed in the NHS as part of efforts to swell staff numbers to tackle covid-19 should not be expected to "step up" and act outside of their competency, says the BMA in new guidance. 1

Cited by 20 publications

References 1 publication

Involvement of Medical Students During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study

Involvement of Medical Students During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study

Medical Students’ Commitment during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: Preparedness, Motivation, and Impact on Students’ Skills

Covid-19: medical schools given powers to graduate final year students early to help NHS

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