Why should medical students (not) be recruited to care for patients with COVID-19?

Bank, Ivan; Wijnen-Meijer, Marjo

Worldwide it is being discussed whether medical students might be of help during the present COVID-19 epidemic. Although this question is probably a legitimate one, one should however discuss this thoroughly before deciding whether medical students are to be included in this kind of medical care on a larger scale. Various arguments should be weighted, and potential tasks should be chosen carefully. This period could however be also an opportunity for medical students to learn things they would probably never learn about. Nevertheless, medical students have a deficit concerning knowledge about epidemics, and they are also not really well skilled in many hygiene measures. Furthermore, some of the known medical students’ behaviour could be a risk factor for further spread of the virus as well. Then, young adults are at risk of getting infected themselves. Last but not least, medical students in general are under a great deal of pressure from their studies which could lead to the development of anxiety and other mental disorders. One could only speculate on the effects of this epidemic on their further mental well-being. Therefore, medical students participating in direct care of patients with COVID-19 should first be trained well, and then properly supervised at all times. Only then it might be a really useful and exceptional experience, for healthcare, medical schools as well as for society.