ABSTRACT
Background: A surge in COVID-19 cases has required health systems around the world to prepare for an urgent call to enhance workforce systems by upskilling senior medical students to assist (Miller et al., 2020;Rasmussen et al., 2020). Objectives: In a regional medical school in NSW, students entering the final 6 months of study were able to apply for an Assistant in Medicine (AiM) role with the state government. This small case study reports (1) the interest of medical students in undertaking an AiM role;(2) psychological distress, resilience and mental toughness in the cohort;and (3) the perceived impact on professional development. Methods: Students were invited to complete a pre- and post-questionnaire containing demographic questions;questions about professional development;Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) score;resilience, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) score;and the Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ-48) score. Nineteen students completed the pre-questionnaire, and four students completed the post-questionnaire. Findings: Most respondents were interested in the AiM role (95%), of whom 88% received an offer, of which 87.5% accepted. Those who received an offer were the most psychologically well with lower K10 scores than their peers. Those who declined the AiM offer had the highest CD-RISC scores. The MTQ-48 scores across both groups were comparable. Respondents who completed the AiM reported that completing the role was very important to their professional development. Conclusion: The opportunity to undertake such a role during a pandemic benefits students and potentially patients and the healthcare system (Gill et al., 2020;Miller et al., 2020;Rasmussen et al., 2020), as opposed to the alternative of cancelling hospital-based rotations to the detriment of students progressing and graduating muchneeded doctors (Gill et al., 2020). .