Preparedness of medical education in China: Lessons from the COVID-19 outbreak

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak can be seen as a ‘big test’ for China; a summative assessment of its preparedness on multiple fronts, including medical education. Being intimately involved in the coordinated response, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University has been a first-hand witness to the strengths and weaknesses of the current medical education system in China. On the one hand, we believe that the distinguished contributions in disease containment efforts by healthcare professionals indicated that our medical education system has achieved its intended outcomes and is socially accountable. On the other hand, we have also identified three major issues that need to be addressed from an educational standpoint: insufficient emphasis on public health emergency preparedness; unsophisticated mechanisms for interdisciplinary cooperation; and inadequate guidance in medical ethics. Whilst these reflections might be seen in its summative form, we would suggest changing it to that of a formative process, where we learn from our assessment through observation and feedback of the gaps, upon which improvement of our present situation can be made. We hope that these lessons may be helpful to our colleagues in the rest of China and around the world, who are engaged in medical educational reform.

Keywords:

• COVID-19
• public health emergency
• medical education
• preparedness
• medical ethics

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Prof. Trevor Gibbs, for providing valuable help for this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Da-Ya Yang

Da-ya Yang, M.D., Ph.D., The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and Key Laboratory of Assisted Circulation, National Health Commission.

Shu-Yuan Cheng

Shu-yuan Cheng, Dr PH Candidate, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.

Shu-Zhen Wang

Shu-zhen Wang, Ph.D., Office of Education Administration, Sun Yat-sen University.

Jin-Song Wang

Jin-song Wang, M.D., Ph.D., The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.

Ming Kuang

Ming Kuang, M.D., Ph.D., The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University.

Ting-Huai Wang

Ting-huai Wang, M.D., Ph.D., Xinhua College of Sun Yat-sen University and Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University.

Hai-Peng Xiao

Hai-peng Xiao, M.D., Ph.D., The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.