Future COVID: Exploring the perspectives of doctors & nurses of student response during the covid-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The training medical students receive means they can be used as auxiliary healthcare staff during pandemics and disasters. During COVID-10, many medical students volunteered in healthcare settings in clinical and non-clinical capacities. While there has been research into students' perceptions of the pandemic and their role within the NHS, the perceptions of healthcare staff perceive this student response has not been explored. Methods: COVIDAssist is a survey based cross sectional observational study of medical student volunteering during COVID-19. The study consists of a cross sectional survey of doctors & nurses who worked alongside medical students in the NHS during the pandemic. We will use qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze responses. Results: The primary objective of the study is to assess how effective student response was in reducing the burden on healthcare teams during the pandemic. Secondary objectives are to identify the broad specialty (e.g. medicine, surgery, primary care) and healthcare roles medical students were most beneficial) ;the GMC outcome-based skills students exhibited;the training provided to students before volunteering and what additional training could have been provided to students. Conclusion: The outcomes of this study will help inform current and future guidance on effective student deployment during pandemics and disasters. The results are also expected to provide insight into necessary training adaptations.