The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on enrollment in undergraduate health-related studies in Spain.

The aim of this study was to determine whether the pandemic has reinforced the choice of pursuing health-related bachelor's degrees, and to identify underlying factors that could contribute to that impact. This is a cross-sectional study using an online survey of 2,344 students of nursing, physiotherapy, medicine, psychology and podiatry who started health-related bachelor's degrees after the COVID-19 outbreak in Spanish higher education institutions. The pandemic influenced the choice of these studies by increasing the desire to help others (33.2%), by increasing citizenship values (28.4%), and by increasing the desire to contribute to improving the situation of the country (27.5%). Women had a significantly greater influence on the increase in social values related to the practice of the profession produced by the pandemic, whereas men and the bachelor's degree in podiatry were more influenced by salary prospects. An increased desire to help others was significantly higher among women and nursing and medical students. Podiatry and psychology were the degrees were most influenced by the pandemic, as more students decided to pursue them, something they had previously doubted, while in nursing, psychology, and medicine the pandemic reinforced their interest in pursuing the degree the most. Students personally affected by COVID-19 reported being more influenced in reconsidering their professional path and in reinforcing their desire to pursue the health-related studies.

Epidemias en series médicas: enfermedades, profesionales sanitarios y dilemas bioéticos

El año 2020 será recordado, probablemente, como “el año del coronavirus”. La pandemia SARS-CoV-2 que azota desde diciembre de 2019 a todo el mundo marcará un antes y un después en la vida cotidiana de muchas personas. Para evitar la propagación del virus, se han impuesto restricciones rigurosas de circulación, cuarentenas y confinamientos como nunca había sucedido. Frente a esta realidad inédita y disruptiva, acudimos a una fuente privilegiada para analizar y aprender sobre las epidemias: el cine y las series. En particular, las series médicas permiten que los espectadores se adentren en el mundo hospitalario y conozcan distintas representaciones de los profesionales de la salud. En este artículo presentamos la descripción y el análisis de seis episodios de series médicas donde se retrata una epidemia como tema central: Urgencias, Anatomía de Grey, Doctor House, The Good Doctor, New Amsterdam y The Resident. La representación de la enfermedad y la epidemia suele ser misteriosa y peligrosa y se representa a los profesionales como héroes dispuestos a sacrificar su propia salud en pos de sus pacientes. Los temas bioéticos se relacionan con el consentimiento informado y la influencia de temas personales de los profesionales en el tratamiento de sus pacientes.