Medical students and the response to COVID-19: Educational preparedness and psychological impact of their involvement in communicating with patients' relatives

Medical School Curriculum Relating to Clinical Ethical Decision Making During a Pandemic: A Scoping Review

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the need for medical students to be prepared to make adequate decisions during unique challenges presented during pandemics.

Objective

This review aims to provide a comprehensive look into the current global literature that discusses medical curricula on clinical ethical issues during a pandemic.

Methods

The scoping review methodology was divided into three stages. Phase 1, planning, involved identifying key terms, selecting databases, creating a search criterion, and deciding on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Phase 2, study selection and data extraction, included screening the title and abstract, reviewing the complete text, and extracting data. Phase 3, analysis and write-up, comprised analyzing the extracted information and composing the review.

Results

10 studies were included and underwent data extraction as part of the review. The studies varied by country, study design, institution, education setting, and course titles. Ethical issues identified while reviewing the curriculums were resource allocation, healthcare worker obligations, personal protective equipment, disease control, communication, management protocols, and patient care.

Conclusion

This review revealed a lack of literature regarding the curriculum for medical students on ethical issues during a pandemic. This indicates a need for reform in medical education to cover pandemic preparedness and ethical concerns during a pandemic. If medical schools do not address this gap, future physicians may encounter the same issues healthcare workers faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Medical students' perceptions of factors that Impact their performance in human physiology course: suggestions for improving course presentation

OBJECTIVES

The study aims to examine students' perceptions of factors that impact students' performance in the Human Physiology course at HU's College of Applied Health Sciences and their suggestions for improvement.

METHOD

A cross sectional study was conducted between March 2022 and April 2022. A self-administered online questionnaire was distributed to undergraduate students in Physiology courses (online and blended) via Microsoft Teams. Data were analyzed descriptively and inferentially, and thematic analysis was employed based on the most frequent statements for the open-ended question.

RESULTS

In total, 435 students participated in the study. Results indicated that students had high levels of agreement (M = 4.39) regarding faculty teaching style compared to (M = 4.24) towards course content and (M = 3.49) moderate levels towards technological aspects. In terms of the statistically significant differences at (α = 0.05) in students' perceptions of factors that influence their performance due to the variables (gender, GPA, college, and teaching methods: online or blended), results showed that course content was not affected by any variables. The technological aspects were affected by GPA and gender. In terms of faculty teaching style, it was affected by all variables (GPA, college, and teaching method) except gender. One open-ended question regarding suggested improvements revealed four main themes: assessment and evaluation, technical issues, teaching methods and tools, and Arabic language support.

CONCLUSION

The study findings recommend greater use of assessment for learning methods and provision of interactive materials to help medical students overcome the challenges that might impact their performance.

Santé mentale et Covid : toutes et tous concernés. Une revue narrative

La pandémie de COVID-19 (due au coronavirus SARS-CoV-2) a apporté des défis sans précédent en termes de santé publique, système de soins et vie quotidienne (incluant le travail et l’éducation), particulièrement lors de la première vague pandémique au début de l’année 2020. Afin de limiter la propagation du virus, de nombreux pays ont imposé des mesures restrictives pour favoriser la distanciation sociale, allant des couvre-feux et fermetures d’écoles à un confinement généralisé. Début 2022, on recense 135 000 décès dus au virus SARS-CoV-2 en France et près de 6 millions dans le monde. Au-delà de l’impact possible du SARS-CoV-2 sur le cerveau, la pandémie a été à l’origine de difficultés humaines complexes, avec un retentissement possible sur la santé mentale des populations. Dans cette revue narrative, nous résumons les données actuelles concernant l’impact de la pandémie sur la santé mentale en s’intéressant aux troubles psychiatriques en population générale et parmi les groupes vulnérables. L’objectif est de promouvoir une prévention ciblée sur ces populations. Notre revue a identifié plusieurs sous-groupes de sujets plus à risque de troubles psychiques dans le contexte de la pandémie de COVID-19 : les endeuillés par la COVID-19, les adolescents, les étudiants, les personnes atteintes par le virus (avec une atteinte potentiellement directe sur le cerveau) et enfin, le personnel de santé. Les disparités de genre ont également été accentuées, en défaveur des femmes. Des mesures de dépistage et de prévention doivent être prises pour limiter l’impact de cette pandémie sur la santé mentale. D’une façon plus générale, l’approche « une santé/one health » qui place la santé humaine (et donc mentale) à l’interface de la santé environnementale et animale semble indispensable pour éviter la survenue de ce type de pandémie et ses conséquences à l’avenir.