Lessons from COVID-19: The Perspective of an International Medical Student Back in the United States

Authors

  • Avnee Nulkar University College Cork

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2020.527

Keywords:

COVID-19, pandemic, patient care, healthcare, medical student

Abstract

As current medical students, we are in a unique position. Although we possess some medical knowledge, our hometowns may require a medical diploma to provide clinical aid in the fight against COVID-19. However, upon arrival from my medical school in Ireland to my home state of California, multiple community-based opportunities to assist patients were discovered. While medical students provide community care, we can also observe our surroundings, learn from the current situation, and deduce methods of improving patient care and healthcare systems, with hopes of preventing such repercussions if a similar pandemic were to occur in the future. This experience piece aims to express shifts in a medical student’s perspective amidst COVID-19 and explicate potential ways in which the American healthcare system can improve.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Author Biography

Avnee Nulkar, University College Cork

Medical student

References

Office of Governor Gavin Newsom. Governor Newsom announces California Health Corps, a major initiative to expand health care workforce to fight COVID-19. Last updated: Mar 30, 2020; cited Apr 15, 2020. Available from: https://www.gov.ca.gov/2020/03/30/governor-newsom-announces-california-health-corps-a-major-initiative-to-expand-health-care-workforce-to-fight-covid-19/.

Ridic G, Gleason S, Ridic O. Comparisons of health care systems in the United States, Germany and Canada. Mater Sociomed. 2012;24(2):112-20

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Health Insurance Coverage of the Total Population. Last updated: Jan, 2019; cited Apr 15, 2020. Available from: https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/total-population/.

Tanne J, Hayasaki E, Zastrow M, Pulla P, Smith P, Rada A. Covid-19: how doctors and healthcare systems are tackling coronavirus worldwide. BMJ. 2020 Mar 18;368:m1090.

King J. Covid-19 and the need for health care reform. N Engl J Med. 2020 Apr 17. [Epub ahead of print]

National Academies (US), Institute of Medicine (US), Woolf S ed, Aron L ed. U.S. Health in international perspective: shorter lives, poorer health. Washington DC: National Academies Press; 2013. Cited Apr 16, 2020. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24006554

Downloads

Published

2020-04-30

How to Cite

Nulkar, A. (2020). Lessons from COVID-19: The Perspective of an International Medical Student Back in the United States. International Journal of Medical Students, 8(1), 75–76. https://doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2020.527

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 1 (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