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COVID-19
PANDEMIC

My Role as a

Medical Student

in the Era of

COVID-19

By Michell A. Parma

If medical school is a high-speed train, barreling toward the des- munity anxieties and answering questions the best way I knew how,
tination of residency, the current global pandemic is the unforeseen I began to carve out my new role as a medical student in the time
debris sprawled out on the train tracks, pulling everything to a of a global pandemic.
screeching halt. During my month-long volunteer experience, one of the most
For almost three years, I have been constantly moving forward. I memorable calls I received came from an elderly grandmother seek-
have studied for exams, perfected patient history-taking skills, ad- ing guidance on self-testing. Her husband was a cancer survivor with
justed to new teams in a variety of specialties, and grown as an as- COPD. Her daughter was a single mother of four. When the grand-
piring physician. All the while, I have paid no mind to the blur of mother’s daughter started showing symptoms requiring her to self-
scenery surrounding. This fast-paced schedule progressed like clock- isolate for fourteen days, the grandmother worried for the
work. While tiring at times, I reminded myself that this was a shared grandchildren. “Who will take care of them if she becomes hospi-
medical student experience. This was the tried and true formula that talized?” she cried. “My husband and I can’t because of his medical
would someday mold me into a successful doctor. conditions, and I’m afraid all of the burden is going to fall on her
Then I received an email from our dean of student affairs. Due oldest son. He’s only twelve.” There was so much out of her control.
to safety concerns around the growing number of COVID-19 cases I confessed to her that we are in control of very little at this time.
in Bexar county, UT Health San Antonio students were to be pulled But for the few things that we can control, I assured her, we can act
from clinical duties immediately. I jolted to a stop. And after recov- with deep intention and grace. I hope she took solace in that fact. I
ering from this whiplash, I remember thinking, “I guess I don’t have know I did.
to set my alarm tomorrow morning.” I think it was the feeling of losing control that woke me early that
I woke the next morning at 6:00 am, no alarm necessary. Now first morning after being pulled from clinicals. I made a mental list
that the train had stopped, I could finally look out and see how still of what I could control: the hours I put into volunteering, the grace
life had become. And that made me immensely uncomfortable. If I give towards others and myself, and the way I bear witness as a
my role as a medical student was to be suspended indefinitely, in student during this pandemic.
order to make some sort of progress, or the illusion of progress, I This may well put me behind schedule for what could have been
needed to reconsider my role for the time being. If I could not learn a conventional season of residency applications and interviews.
in a clinical environment, then I was determined to simply be help- Or this may well be the most formative reflective pause of my
ful. Soon my email flooded with volunteer opportunities from our medical education. For the first time, the train has stopped. I can
school. I jumped on the chance to serve the City of San Antonio’s see the scenery around me more clearly. And I can step off and
Metropolitan Health Epidemiology COVID-19 Hotline. help others, without the fears of limited time or of being left be-
The hotline was originally intended for health care providers hind. For the first time, I can simply take on the role of reflective
looking to receive up-to-date guidance on testing guidelines and service. And that has been the closest role to a physician that I
the PUI numbers for patients being tested. But unexpectedly, it ex- have practiced so far.
panded into a community hotline. We answered questions from
“How long should I quarantine if my co-worker tested positive?” Mitchell Parma is a third year medical student at the UTHSA
to “Can my mother drive down from New Orleans to help me with Long School of Medicine, is a member of the Bexar County Med-
my newborn baby?” to “How do we dispose of a body suspected ical Society and is interested in pursuing a career in Internal Med-
of being COVID-19 positive?” The unprecedented nature of the icine.
pandemic evoked widespread fear in my city. By helping ease com-
visit us at www.bcms.org 33