The Opposite of Loneliness: Medical Student Mobilization During COVID-19

What is the opposite of loneliness? According to student-author Marina Keegan,1 there is no single word in the English dictionary to describe this feeling. And yet, it is the way that I, a fourth-year medical student, have felt since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In mid-March 2020, medical students were pulled virtually overnight from their clinical responsibilities. Instead of pitying themselves, students from all over the country joined forces to mobilize, as documented in a recent Academic Medicine article.2 Volunteer efforts, advocacy initiatives, and research all became available outlets for students, who had previously been separated by institutional walls and state borders, to bond together to work on achieving a common objective: to help. Invisible hierarchies between students, residents, fellows, and attendings suddenly ceased to exist as all hands were on deck to fight the virus in any and all ways possible. Online video chats have facilitated not only communication, but connections between and among members of the medical profession who may never have otherwise met or interacted. In milliseconds, student voices and ideas in one part of the country could be shared with a national audience, local grassroots campaigns could be emulated, and regular conversations could unfold between students and deans at various schools. From all of this, a clear lesson emerged. No matter the level of training, trainees are strong in numbers. During this pandemic, the m...
Source: Academic Medicine Blog - Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: Tags: Featured Guest Perspective COVID-19 medical students trainee Source Type: blogs