Delivering an online course on 'health emergency from SARS-COV-2, the novel Coronavirus: Preparation and contrast' for health professions students at Italian universities

ABSTRACT

Many Italian universities had numerous students attending hospital wards during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The training of healthcare professionals and students was necessary to facilitate good practices, disseminate knowledge about COVID-19, and minimize contagion among students who were completing internships. On 28 February 2020, the Italian National Institute of Health (NIH) created a course that aimed to guide healthcare personnel so that they can appropriately address the health emergency due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), making use of the available scientific evidence and official sources of information and updates. The purpose of this paper was to describe the method used by the Sapienza University of Rome in delivering the Italian NIH course for health professions students at Italian universities. The research group in charge of delivering the course decided to use the Google Classroom platform. Since 1 April, 80 classes have been created, and currently, 15000 students from 28 health professions bachelor's and master's degree programs and 43 universities around Italy are attending the course. A total of 13000 students have completed the final test. This paper represents a clear advantage in the field of elearning, not only because it describes an effective method for delivering a course to many students but also because it demonstrates how health professions students can be protected while allowing them to continue or restart internships in health facilities more safely and with more awareness. © Proceedings of the 14th IADIS International Conference e-Learning 2020, EL 2020 - Part of the 14th Multi Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems, MCCSIS 2020. All rights reserved.