On Pause: How a Group of Medical Students Engaged with Their Community During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

1-1-2021

Journal

Journal of health care for the poor and underserved

Volume

32

Issue

3

Publisher

Johns Hopkins University Press

Keywords

African Americans; COVID-19; COVID-19 Testing; Community Health Services; District of Columbia; Healthcare Disparities; Hispanic Americans; Humans; Pandemics; Students, Medical; Volunteers

DOI

10.1353/hpu.2021.0122

Abstract

During academic clinical suspensions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of medical students in Washington, D.C. collaborated with a local federally qualified health center to launch a free COVID-19 testing site to increase access to testing in the community. The patients who accessed the testing site were predominantly Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino, some of whom were uninsured or without access to testing or a timely physician's referral. In this article, medical students reflect on their experiences at this testing site and provide commentary on how existing racial and socioeconomic health disparities have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. While under the extremely unusual circumstance of a suspension from their clinical rotations, medical students elaborate on the lessons learned from this experience and the continued work required to engage deeply in the issues of equality and racial justice now and in the future.

Peer Reviewed

1

Link to Full Text
Find in your library

Share

COinS