Medical Interns as Volunteers in the COVID-19 Vaccination Drives in the Philippines

Abstract

In the efforts of the Philippine government to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19, the Department of Health has called on postgraduate medical interns, who recently earned their medical degree, to join the vaccination drives as part of their community and elective rotations, with guided supervision by licensed physicians. Through this initiative, volunteer medical interns were able to acquire valuable experience by performing in a real-life setting, gaining practical hands-on knowledge, and making a significant impact in the lives of people in the community by sharing their knowledge and skills and fulfilling their mission to heal and serve mankind. This initiative can be emulated by other countries with inadequate healthcare workforce in order to speed up their vaccination efforts.

Keywords

• COVID-19
• vaccine
• volunteerism
• pandemic
• internship
• Philippines