ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has turned attention to the essential competencies needed to confront pandemics for a physician. However, medical students, as future physicians, are not adequately trained for such a situation. This study aimed to determine the essential competencies for a medical student to face the COVID-19 pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed this mixed-method needs assessment study at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in May-June 2020 in three steps: the first step was a brainstorming session followed by a nominal group technique with the experts' participation. The second step was determining the validity of competencies by calculating the content validity ratio. In the third and last step, three rounds of the modified Delphi technique were held with the participation of 22 medical faculty members and 45 undergraduate medical students to reach a consensus about the competencies utilizing quantitative analysis. RESULTS: A total of 30 key competencies essential for a medical student were obtained through the current study. They were categorized into four major themes: (1) developing knowledge and abilities for effective diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19, (2) demonstrating safety principles correctly, (3) demonstrating effective behavior, and (4) determining the meta-competencies. CONCLUSIONS: Although medical students will be the frontline physicians in the future pandemics, they are not prepared to display the diversity of requisite skills to practice effectively and safely. This study provides essential competencies for medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic and underlines the importance of a paradigm shift from traditional time-based to competency-based education.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Leadership , Learning , Physicians/standards , Writing , Crisis Intervention , Education, Medical , Humans , Iran , Organizational Innovation , Physicians/supply & distribution , Students, MedicalABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has posed a significant threat to many countries. Since the disease does not currently have a particular treatment, there is a compelling need to find substitute means to dominate its expansion. In this rapid review, we aimed to determine some countries' public responses to the COVID-19 epidemic. METHODS: In this study, academic databases, including MEDLINE, Scopus, and Embase, were investigated. The keywords applied in the search strategy besides the names of each country were: "Public Health," "Public Response", "Health Policy", "COVID-19", "Novel Coronavirus," "2019-nCoV", and "SARS-CoV-2". The countries included China, Italy, Iran, Spain, South Korea, Germany, France, United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, and Singapore. RESULTS: The total number of retrieved articles in MEDLINE, Scopus, and Embase in April 2020 was 594, and after removing 259 duplicate articles, 335 papers were screened by the experts. After this investigation, 50 articles, in addition to 12 webpages, were extensively reviewed for the results section. Public health strategies and responses can be divided into four main areas, including monitoring, public education, crowd controlling, and care facilities. CONCLUSION: According to the results of the management decisions of some governments on quarantining, social isolation, screening methods, and flight suspensions due to the severity and anonymity of COVID-19, it is highly assured that these strategies would be the most successful approaches to confront the present pandemic. Governments should put in place timely and strict measures to halt the spread and diminish its unintended deadly consequences.