Abstract
ObjectiveAlarming rates of anxiety and burnout in pre-clinical health profession trainees are now challenged by additional COVID-19 stressors. This study explored COVID-related stressors among first-year medical, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, and veterinary medical students. The authors examined associations between resilience, news monitoring, and COVID stress.MethodsStudents completed an online questionnaire that included the Brief Resilience Scale at their matriculation in August 2019. Survey results were linked to demographic information collected by all schools. A follow-up survey in May 2020 included original questions on COVID-19 stressors and news monitoring. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics and multivariable linear regression models.ResultsAcross schools, 74% (266/360) provided consent for the 2019 survey, and 76% (201/264) responded to COVID-19 questions in the follow-up 2020 survey. Students were “extremely” or “very” concerned about family members getting infected (n = 71, 76% School of Medicine (SOM); n = 31, 76% School of Nursing (SON); n = 50, 75% School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM)) and curriculum schedule changes (n = 72, 78%, SOM; n = 28, 68% SON; n = 52, 79% SVM). Greater frequency of COVID news monitoring was associated with greater COVID-related stress (p = 0.02). Higher resilience at matriculation was associated with lower COVID-related stress ten months later (p < 0.001).ConclusionsAmid COVID-19 uncertainty, health science schools should address the immense student stress regarding curriculum disruptions. The results of this study underscore the powerful role of resilience in protecting against stress not only during the known academic rigor of health professions training but also during unprecedented crises.
Highlights
This study aimed to identify the prevalence of COVID-related stress and news monitoring and evaluate whether (1) students with higher resilience at matriculation would report lower COVID-related stress and (2) students who monitored COVID-19-related news more frequently would experience greater overall COVID-related stress
The overall degree of COVID-related stress did not differ between the three health professions schools, School of Nursing (SON) students were more troubled by the pandemic’s impact on protective equipment (PPE) availability, childcare, and child schooling
These differences may reflect the greater proportion of SON respondents balancing roles as parents and students and the extensive patient contact that SON students experience throughout their first year
Summary
First-year students at the time of matriculation (August 2019) from the University of California, Davis (UCD) School of Medicine (SOM), School of Nursing (SON), and School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM) were eligible to complete the first installment of a 4-year, longitudinal, web-based questionnaire through Qualtrics survey software (Qualtrics, Provo, UT). The SON cohort encompasses nurse practitioner and physician assistant students, collectively called advanced practice providers. Both groups take identical courses in sequence. Non-responders were given weekly email reminders to complete the survey for three consecutive weeks. Students who consented to the initial 2019 survey were invited to complete a follow-up survey in May of 2020. Nonresponders to the May 2020 invitation were again given three weekly email reminders. The study was approved by the UCD Institutional Review Board
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
