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COVID-19
PANDEMIC
A Third-Year Medical

Student’s Perspective

on COVID-19

By Donald Egan

I was at the bedside of an 11-year-old patient who was recovering number of calls as the virus continues to spread.
from a motor vehicle accident when I felt my phone vibrate twice I am one of the team leaders, helping to answer questions from
in my pocket. This notification felt different. Once the patient en- callers and acting as a liaison between the medical student volunteers
counter was finished, my colleague pulled me aside in the hospital and the MetroHealth staff. While our hotline was intended to be
corridor and told me the news that we were dismissed from our for healthcare providers asking questions about testing criteria and
clinical duties because of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, out- specimen collection, a large portion of our calls now come from
break. Over the course of the previous week, medical schools across community members without primary care providers (PCPs) or
the country were pulling students from clinical sites and moving to those who cannot see their PCP because they were either turned
online curriculums when available. Our administration had re- away or their PCP lacked resources. In cases like these, we screen
mained transparent with our student body during this time and ul- the individual for signs and symptoms of COVID-19 to determine
timately made the difficult decision to pull us out due to the if they meet criteria for mobile testing. Many of the calls we receive
escalating threat. are from scared members of the community who know someone
The ensuing days were filled with more questions than answers. who has tested positive or is suspected positive for the virus. Thus,
As a third-year medical student, I am quickly approaching the crucial a fair share of our time at the hotline is mitigating fear and dissem-
time of my education where I will be finishing my clerkships, taking inating health promotion and education to the community.
Step 2, completing away rotations, and applying to residency. For I chose to volunteer because I could not sit idly by and do nothing
years, students in my same position have been working towards the while my community suffered. In this time of crisis, healthcare
common goal of completing medical school to become doctors and workers are desperately needed and the hotline is one way to apply
help our communities. However, now it is hard to not feel sidelined. my training for the good of public health and safety. I will continue
As third-year medical students, we find ourselves in the difficult po- to help in ways that I can, and I encourage other healthcare students
sition of wanting to help by applying the training we have learned and trainees to do the same. No one is quite sure how long the cur-
in clinics and hospital settings but lacking the experience of our rent restriction on daily life will last or when life will go back to
more senior colleagues. some modicum of normalcy. In the meantime, the growing oppor-
In response to the growing burden of COVID-19 on Bexar tunities to serve borne from the current pandemic offer a sense of
County and the volume of students expressing to the administration direction and purpose. More importantly, these opportunities serve
at UT Health San Antonio their desire to help, The Long School as reminders of why we joined the healthcare field in the first place.
of Medicine Medical Student Response Team was created. The team They offer a chance to renew our commitment to the service of
is a partnership with Metropolitan Health District’s (MetroHealth) others when they need us the most.
COVID-19 Epidemiology and Crisis Hotline and its mission is to
conduct phone screenings, assisting health care professionals across Donald Egan attends University of Texas Long School of Med-
the city and surrounding areas, as well as answer general questions icine and is a Doctorate in Medicine Candidate, 2021; he also at-
from the public. The phones are manned by a team of medical stu- tends University of Texas School of Public Health and is a
dents, nurses, and employees of MetroHealth. On average, the hot- candidate for Master of Public Health Candidate, 2021. Mr.
line receives approximately 100 calls an hour with an increasing Egan is TMA MSS, and AMA Delegate Co-Chair.

30 San Antonio Medicine • June 2020