Balancing Our Identities as Medical Students and Global Citizens in the Wake of COVID-19

Authors

  • Ramesha Ali University College Cork

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2020.500

Keywords:

COVID-19, Coronavirus, Medical school, postgraduate training, pandemic, global citizen, health and well-being, SARS-CoV-2, International Medical Student

Abstract

As medical students, we felt the burden of COVID-19 in two distinct waves. The first wave brought with it a loss of opportunity and the immense sadness that came with the understanding that we would move forth without ever compensating for such experiences. As clerkships and licensing exams were slowly canceled, we struggled to find ways to fill our days and continue to remain strong postgraduate candidates. It was not long before our personal losses became insignificant in the face of the global trajectory COVID-19 took and the burden of the pandemic impinged on our vulnerabilities. Suddenly, we were facing a significant loss of life and the fear of ill-health was ever-present. This challenged our identity as medical students and forced us to identify as global citizens who were also susceptible to the threat of the pandemic. It also forced us to uphold our health and well-being just as we had pledged to hold the health and well-being of others and to include ourselves in our commitment to a lifetime of service.

 

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Government of Ireland. Statement from the National Public Health Emergency Team. Available from: https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/d4cf4a-statement-from-the-national-public-health-emergency-team-sunday-15-m/. Updated 15 March 2020; cited 2020 May 5.

Liu BD. Being an American 2nd Year Medical Student in the COVID-19 Pandemic. Int J Med Students. 2020 Jan-Apr;8(1):77-78.

Samuthpongtorn C, Pongpirul K. Medical Students in Low- and Middle-Income Countries and COVID-19 Pandemic. Int J Med Students. 2020 Jan-Apr;8(1):79- 81.

Pagano G, Luglio G. Medical Education in Naples, Italy, at the Time of SARS-CoV-2. Int J Med Students. 2020 Jan-Apr;8(1):51-53.

Biavardi NG. Being an Italian Medical Student During the COVID-19 Outbreak. Int J Med Students. 2020;8(1): 49 – 50.

Chatterjee S. The COVID-19 Pandemic Through the Lens of a Medical Student in India. Int J Med Students. 2020 Jan-Apr;8(1):82-83.

Kalra T, Kalra N. COVID-19: Where Do We Go from Here? An Experience from Medical Students in India. Int J Med Students. 2020 Jan-Apr;8(1):66-67.

Nulkar A. Lessons from COVID-19: The Perspective of an International Medical Student Back in the United States. Int J Med Students. 2020 Jan-Apr;8(1):75- 76.

Komer L. COVID-19 amongst the Pandemic of Medical Student Mental Health. Int J Med Students. 2020 Jan-Apr;8(1):56-57.

Bonilla-Escobar FJ. Leadership and Health: The Scientific Journal’s Mission of Spreading Science in Times of Pandemic. Int J Med Students. 2020 Jan-Apr;8(1):9-10.

World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report – 98. Available from: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200427-sitrep-98-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=90323472_4. Updated 2020 April 27; cited 2020 May 5.

Sohrabi C, Alsafi Z, O’Neill N, Khan M, Kerwan A, Al-Jabir A, et al. World Health Organization declares global emergency: A review of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Int J Surg. 2020 Apr;76:71-76.

Downloads

Published

2020-05-22

How to Cite

Ali, R. (2020). Balancing Our Identities as Medical Students and Global Citizens in the Wake of COVID-19. International Journal of Medical Students, 8(2), 167–168. https://doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2020.500

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 2 (2020)

Section

Experience

Categories

License

  1. The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term “Work” shall include all digital objects that may result in subsequent electronic publication or distribution.
  2. Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.
  3. The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions:
    1. Attribution—other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site; with the understanding that the above condition can be waived with permission from the Author and that where the Work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.
    2. The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
    3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a prepublication manuscript (but not the Publisher’s final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
    4. Upon Publisher’s request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author’s own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.
    5. The Author represents and warrants that:
      1. the Work is the Author’s original work;
      2. the Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party;
      3. the Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher;
      4. the Work has not previously been published;
      5. the Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and
      6. the Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.
    6. The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from the Author’s breach of the representations and warranties contained in Paragraph 6 above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher’s use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.

Enforcement of copyright

The IJMS takes the protection of copyright very seriously.

If the IJMS discovers that you have used its copyright materials in contravention of the license above, the IJMS may bring legal proceedings against you seeking reparation and an injunction to stop you using those materials. You could also be ordered to pay legal costs.

If you become aware of any use of the IJMS' copyright materials that contravenes or may contravene the license above, please report this by email to contact@ijms.org

 

Infringing material

If you become aware of any material on the website that you believe infringes your or any other person's copyright, please report this by email to contact@ijms.org