Willingness of Medical Students to Volunteer for Assisting Frontline Doctors During The COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Objective: To assess the willingness of medical students to volunteer for assisting frontline doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted from 12th June 2020 to 20th July 2020 on medical students of Rawalpindi Medical University. Materials and Methods: An online survey was conducted among 282 undergraduate medical students selected via convenience sampling. SPSS version 25 was used for analysis. Results: More than half of the participants (52.1%) were unwilling to volunteer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of those who wanted to volunteer preferred to do so by providing indirect healthcare via telemedicine. The most popular reason for preferring to volunteer was an ethical inclination to help the frontline workforce. The main barriers towards volunteering included the possibility of being vectors for viral transmission, consuming personal protective equipment that healthcare personnel needed, and contracting COVID-19. No significant association was found between gender (p=0.567), age group (p=0.793), year of study (p=0.911), or boarder/non-boarder status (p=0.243), and willingness to volunteer. Conclusion: The majority of medical students were unwilling to volunteer for assisting frontline doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords

• covid-19, medical education, medical students, pandemics, volunteerism.