MedEdPublish (Nov 2020)
Fostering health professional students’ wellbeing during COVID -19 lockdown
Abstract
The unprecedented lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an academic frenzy for students and teachers alike. Medical schools have had to take charge of the situation. Distance learning has become the norm. At the same time, online assessment is being considered to be rolled out to facilitate learning. Students went home during the lockdown and online classes were conducted for them to avoid any compromise to their learning. Facilitators were concerned about the students' wellbeing as lack of personal contact made it difficult to assess their wellness. The virtual platform can be used as a tool to check the overall health status of the students. Well- being can be discussed in terms of physical, temperamental, cognitive and spiritual health along with their awareness towards the environment, social and professional attitudes. The help of a mentorship program can be sought to get in touch with students. Meetings can be set up with the mentees to help ease out the stress and worry from the student's lives. This article attempts to suggest ways in which the students' contentment can be met with in these trying times.The unprecedented lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an academic frenzy for students and teachers alike. Medical schools have had to take charge of the situation. Distance learning has become the norm. At the same time, online assessment is being considered to be rolled out to facilitate learning. Students went home during the lockdown and online classes were conducted for them to avoid any compromise to their learning. Facilitators were concerned about the students' wellbeing as lack of personal contact made it difficult to assess their wellness. The virtual platform can be used as a tool to check the overall health status of the students. Well- being can be discussed in terms of physical, temperamental, cognitive and spiritual health along with their awareness towards the environment, social and professional attitudes. The help of a mentorship program can be sought to get in touch with students. Meetings can be set up with the mentees to help ease out the stress and worry from the student's lives. This article attempts to suggest ways in which the students' contentment can be met with in these trying times.
