Psychological Burden and Experiences Following Exposure to COVID-19: A Qualitative and Quantitative Study of Chinese Medical Student Volunteers

Abstract

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, some medical students devoted themselves to volunteer activities, but it was the first time that they had been exposed to such an infectious disease and they might have experienced fear in the face of the epidemic. We aimed to conduct a timely assessment of the psychological burden and experience on medical student volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We used the 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scales to survey the psychology burden of students in April 2020. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine medical students who signed up for volunteer activities in Chinese from February to April 2020. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyze the data. Results: The detection of depression, anxiety and stress of medical student volunteers were 26.8%, 20.2% and 11.1%, respectively. The volunteer’s negative emotions were more pronounced before work and diminished gradually. Most participants expressed no concern about being infected themselves, but worry about family infection. Participant’s motivations for volunteering were primarily their duties as medical students and encouragement from their families/teachers. The vast majority of medical students said they would be willing to work as medical assistants again and this experience would not affect their career choice. Conclusions: Chinese medical student volunteers tended to show negative emotions at the beginning of their work, and then gradually declined, while positive emotions emerged. Most medical students were willing to volunteer as medical assistants when their country needed them due to their sense of responsibility as medical students. This study on the psychological and experiential aspects were derived from Chinese medical student volunteers and might have a significant impact on future public health emergencies in similar settings.

“Hang in There!”: Mental Health in a Sample of the Italian Civil Protection Volunteers during the COVID-19 Health Emergency

“…Our findings are not surprising and confirmed recent studies that found that volunteers serving during the COVID-19 pandemic, although initially experiencing distress conditions, were "happy" and satisfied [57]. Compared to the few published studies on volunteer civilians, many studies have been conducted on medical students and future healthcare professionals' volunteering, reporting a sense of giving real aid among the benefits, driven by altruism and the ethical imperative to serve their community [58][59][60][61][62].…”

Mental Health Among Medical Students During COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Table 1 shows the overall characteristics of the 41 included studies ( Elhadi et al, 2020 ; Jindal et al, 2020 ; Liu et al, 2020 ; Medeiros et al, 2020 ; Muhammad Alfareed Zafar et al, 2020 ; Nadeem et al, 2020 ; Nakhostin-Ansari et al, 2020 ; Nihmath Nisha et al, 2020 ; Sartorao Filho Carlos et al, 2020 ; Sun et al, 2020 ; Adhikari et al, 2021 ; Banstola et al, 2021 ; Basheti et al, 2021 ; Bilgi et al, 2021 ; Gao et al, 2021 ; Guo et al, 2021 ; Gupta et al, 2021 ; Halperin et al, 2021 ; Kalkan Uğurlu et al, 2021 ; Kaplan Serin and Doğan, 2021 ; Keskin, 2021 ; Kuman Tunçel et al, 2021 ; Li et al, 2021 ; Mekhemar et al, 2021 ; Meng et al, 2021 ; Nishimura et al, 2021 ; Patelarou et al, 2021 ; Pavan et al, 2021 ; Pelaccia et al, 2021 ; Perissotto et al, 2021 ; Saeed and Javed, 2021 ; Safa et al, 2021 ; Song et al, 2021 ; Xiao et al, 2021 ; Xie et al, 2021 ; Yadav et al, 2021 ; Yang et al, 2021 ; Yin et al, 2021 ; Zhang et al, 2021a ; Zheng et al, 2021 ; Zhu et al, 2021 ). On the whole, 40 cross-sectional studies and 1 longitudinal study were included in our study.…”

Exploring medical students’ perceptions of the challenges and benefits of volunteering in the intensive care unit during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study

“…In contrast, a study from China found that medical students’ experience volunteering during the pandemic had no influence on their future career choices. 44 During the 2009 swine influenza pandemic, the Royal Medical Academy of Belgium found that 91% of medical students felt that H5N1 patient care should be incorporated into the curriculum; and indeed this could be a strong consideration for the COVID-19 pandemic also. 45 Being exposed to and working in different settings is important for making informed career choices.…”