Assessment of medical students’ preparedness and willingness for integration into a war-torn healthcare system: the example of COVID-19 pandemic scenario

ABSTRACT

In Syria, medical students were placed on call to provide sufficient human resources during COVID-19 pandemic. This research aimed to explore the ability and willingness of the final-year medical students to assist during COVID-19 in the Syrian war-torn and fragile health-system. Final-year Syrian medical students were approached between 9th-17th April 2020 through an online questionnaire. Students’ COVID-19-related medical knowledge (5-point score), clinical judgement (5-point score), and preparedness and willingness to integrate in healthcare facilities were assessed. A 10-point score was created, and linear regression and Tukey’s HSD test were conducted. 1673 valid responses were received, of which 1199 (71.66%) responses were from the final-year students. Of the latter, 728 (60.71%) scored 4 points or higher in the medical knowledge score (mean 3.69 points), while 298 (24.85%) scored 4 or higher in the clinical judgement score. Final-year students scored significantly higher than the fourth-year students in the clinical judgement score. Finally, 682 (56.88%) of the final-year students expressed willingness to volunteer with healthcare teams. Final-year medical students may provide medical aid, on voluntary basis, by working in fragile health systems during pandemics. However, this should be undertaken in cases of extreme need. Sufficient personal protective measures, intensive training, and adequate supervision should be guaranteed.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• undergraduates
• preparedness
• health systems
• integration

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Angie Mouki and Joseph Sneij for the proofreading of this manuscript.

Availability of data and materials

All data generated or analyzed during this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Authors’ contributions

TA designed the study. TA, RAKa, MH and MAlm established the questionnaire. LA, RAKa, MH, and MAlm searched the literature. TA, LA, RAKa, MH, MAlm and MAlh collected the data. TA and RAKh analyzed the data. TA, LA, and RAKh interpreted the data. TA, LA, RAKa, MH, MAlm and RAKh wrote the first draft. TA, LA, RAKh and MAlh contributed to the final draft. All authors approved the final manuscript.

Disclosure statement

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

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study was approved by the Scientific Ethical Committee of the Faculty of Medicine, Damascus University, and was conducted in line with the Declaration of Helsinki. Written informed consent was obtained from each respondent on the first electronic page of the questionnaire. Participants’ privacy was guaranteed throughout the study. All participants had the right to withdraw at any stage of the study. Moreover, all incomplete responses were considered as withdrawal and were excluded from the analysis. All participants were 18-years-old or older.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no specific funding for this work.

Notes on contributors

Tamim Alsuliman

Tamim Alsuliman MD, MSc, is Hematologist at the Hematology and Cell Therapy Department, Saint-Antoine Hospital AP-HP Sorbonne University, Paris. He is interested in researche related to hematopoietic stem cells, cell therapy, onco-hematology, infectious diseases, epidemiology, and academic medicine.

Lugien Alasadi

Lugien Alasadi MD, MSc, is hepato-gastroenterologist. She is currently a PhD student at Paris-Saclay University-INSERM Unit 1193, Hepato-Biliary Center, Paul-Brousse University Hospital, Villejuif, France. Her current research aims to study the microenviroment of liver cancer and to determine the immune escape mechanisms. She is interensted in research in the domain of liver cancer, liver transplantation, public health, and medical education.

Rahim Abo Kasem

Rahim Abo Kasem is final-year medical student at the Faculty of Medicine, Damascus University, Syria. He is interested in public health research, medical education, and general surgery.

Majd Hawat

Majd Hawat MD, is resident doctor in the internal medicine departments at the University Hospitals of Faculty of Medicine, Damascus university, Syria. His research interests include public health and internal medicine.

Mohammad Almansour

Mohammad Almansour MD, is currently a master student at the Faculty of Public Health, University of Debrecen, Hungary. He has a special research interest in the domain of public health and surgery.

Ruba Al Khalaf

Ruba Al Khalaf MSc, is Bioinformatician. She is currently a PhD candidate at Politecnico di Milano in the Department of electronics, information and bioengineering in the area of information technology.

Marwan Alhalabi

Marwan Alhalabi MD, PhD, is the President Elect of Federation of Arab societies of OBGYN, President of Syrian Society of OBGYN and Immediate Past President of the Middle East Fertility Society. He is professor of reproductive medicine, Genetics and embryology, Vice Dean for scientific affairs, and head of department of reproductive medicine, genetics and embryology at Faculty of Medicine, Damascus University, Syria. He is also head of assisted reproduction unit and consultant medical director of Orient Hospital.