Mobilizing medical students for COVID-19 responses: Experience of Vietnam

According to International Labor Organization, there was a shortage in the number of workers in the health sector, especially in lower-middle income countries and low-income countries, resulting in disruption of health services [4,5]. First and foremost, with a solid background on health care cultivated throughout years of in-depth education, senior medical students have sufficient practical and clinical capabilities. There should also be policies and protocols to be developed in the national emergency plan for pandemic responses that specifies medical students’ roles and responsibilities and coordinating mechanisms between universities and public health authorities. Since the pandemic is ongoing, the approach used in Vietnam might be helpful for other resource-scarce settings in conducting active and prompt responses in the pandemic. 1 Institute for Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam 2 Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA 3 Institute for Global Health Innovations, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, Vietnam 4 Faculty of Medicine, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, Vietnam 5 Center of Excellence in Evidence-based Medicine, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 6 Department of Psychological Medicine, National University Hospital, Singapore, Singapore 7 Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore 8 Institute for Health Innovation and Technology (iHealthtech), National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore