STUDENT BMJ: first published as 10.1136/bmj.m2160 on 15 June 2020. Downloaded from 1 University of Leeds, Leeds, UK BMJ STUDENT 2 London, UK Covid-19: the medical students responding to the pandemic Correspondence to
[email protected] Cite this as: BMJ 2020;369:m2160 Florence Kinder, 1 Anna Harvey2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m2160 Published: 15 June 2020 The covid-19 pandemic has resulted in the patients.” Numerous other students have helped out cancellation of thousands of hours of clinical with childcare and other tasks. placements, suspension of teaching in person, and Students have also joined forces with organisations the postponement of most exams. This has left 4 that distribute equipment. MedSupplyDriveUK has medical students with an unusual amount of free welcomed student volunteers to help coordinate the time but a strong desire to be part of the response to redistribution of personal protective equipment from the crisis. Although final year students have newly non-healthcare settings. graduated and are expected to or already have started structured roles within the national health service Returning to the NHS imminently, those who are less senior are finding Some medical students have chosen to help in the other ways to volunteer their time and skills. NHS by returning to former professions or taking on The Medical Schools Council guidance for medical new clinical roles. students volunteering to help with the covid-19 Sam Maxwell, a third year medical student at Leeds, response emphasises that they must prioritise their 1 has returned to the team in the emergency studies, but this hasn’t stopped student groups from department, where she has worked as a healthcare across the United Kingdom turning their minds and assistant since beginning medical school in 2017.