key: cord-0995083-pagdozit authors: Tran, Bach Xuan; Vo, Long Hoang; Phan, Hai Thanh; Pham, Hai Quang; Vu, Giang Thu; Le, Huong Thi; Latkin, Carl A; Ho, Cyrus SH; Ho, Roger CM title: Mobilizing medical students for COVID-19 responses: Experience of Vietnam date: 2020-07-28 journal: Journal of global health DOI: 10.7189/jogh.10.020319 sha: 90f03e66d782e5d57fa3e49d85fa7da27baa6101 doc_id: 995083 cord_uid: pagdozit nan Involvement of medical students in healthcare task force has made considerable contribution to the prompt COVID-19 responses of Vietnam. To prepare for medical students and optimize the capacity in emergencies, universities should incorporate field epidemiological practicum and engage health authorities as supervisors throughout the programs. universities in Denmark keep medical students in their clinical placements and initiate fast-track courses in ventilator therapy and nursing assistance [8] [9] [10] . Vietnam preventive medicine has demonstrated certain advantages in preventing and controlling the COVID-19 outbreak. On the other hand, despite the wide coverage from central to grassroots levels, contact tracing and epidemiological investigations in Vietnam have revealed its weaknesses in terms of capacity and staff when many thousands of people are at risk of being infected. During the first week of April, Hanoi has rapidly traced over 26 000 people with a history of close contacts to confirmed COV-ID-19 cases at an early stage. Due to the complicated COVID-19 outbreak situation, medical universities in Vietnam have developed plans in case health staff or students are infected and proactively respond to possible scenarios. Based on a request of the Hanoi Department of Health, after opening training courses on essential medical understanding on COVID-19, Hanoi Medical University mobilized 97 senior students in preventive medicine and 27 final-year students of public health to support prevention, early detection, and control of COVID-19 with the health staffs at the Hanoi Center for Disease Control (CDC). Volunteer students at medical universities have been involved in the epidemiological investigation of cases coming from epidemic areas. They are providing counseling to people over the phone, collecting samples from suspected community groups, importing data into computers, and cleaning and disinfection for congregate settings for COVID-19. The involvement of medical students in the prevention and control of COVID-19 has certain advantages. First and foremost, with a solid background on health care cultivated throughout years of in-depth education, senior medical students have sufficient practical and clinical capabilities. A variety of transferable skills, such as critical appraisal, observation, listening, logical reasoning, and decision making, gained through their practical training programs at hospitals as well as at outside health facilities, is also of great help. Furthermore, medical students have also been trained for effective interpersonal communication, understanding and treating serious illness, and ethical issues, which is helpful in investigating the epidemiological characteristics and symptomology. Finally, as medical students have been familiar with working under pressure for a long time, they are able to handle a heavy workload and perform well under high pressure. However, due to the differences between hospital and community environment, especially in Photo: From Hanoi Medical University (used with permission). such a pandemic as COVID-19, it might take the students quite a long time to become familiar with the work as well as the changing environment. The successful contact tracing model in Vietnam, using limited resources, suggests the importance of ensuring skillful human resources for pandemic preparedness. To prepare for medical students, universities should improve their training curriculums by incorporating field epidemiological practicum and engaging health authorities as supervisors throughout the programs. There should also be policies and protocols to be developed in the national emergency plan for pandemic responses that specifies medical students' roles and responsibilities and coordinating mechanisms between universities and public health authorities. Since the pandemic is ongoing, the approach used in Vietnam might be helpful for other resource-scarce settings in conducting active and prompt responses in the pandemic. World Health Organization. Strengthening the health system response to COVID-19: policy brief Global research on coronavirus disease (COVID-19) 2020 Available COVID-19: Are there enough health workers? Do psychiatric patients experience more psychiatric symptoms during COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown? A Case-Control Study with Service and Research Implications for Immunopsychiatry Influenza in 1918: recollections of the epidemic in Philadelphia The 1952-1953 Danish epidemic of poliomyelitis and Bjorn Ibsen A Bold Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Medical Students, National Service, and Public Health. JAMA. 2020. Epub ahead of print Medline The Role of Medical Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic Medical students for health-care staff shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic Research is supported by Vingroup Innovation Foundation (VINIF) in project code VI- The authors completed the ICMJE Unified Competing Interest form (available upon request from the corresponding author), and declare no conflicts of interest.