Pre-Med in a Pandemic

Hi everyone! Welcome back to my blog. It’s been a minute. Currently, I am writing you from Orange County amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. I am in quarantine and learning the new adventures of being an online pre-med student.

For my Autoethnograpghy project I am going to write about being a pre-med student during the COVID-19 pandemic. I am going to write about not only my own experience, but the experience of others. I want to include anecdotes from other pre-med students to talk about the similarities and differences in our experiences. I would also like to interview healthcare workers that are not in school, but have other life obligations to talk about the experiences other peoples are facing as well. 

For my secondary research, I would like to include articles talking about the affect that COVID-19 has an affect on pre-med students in a broad spectrum. 

In a US News article, Dr. Renee Marinelli, reflects on some of the negative affects that the pandemic has on pre med students. The article summarizes the affect of school closures on pre-med students. Dr. Marinelli describes how medical schools weight the importance of in person classes and wet labs. Because of school closures, students are unable to complete the require pre-requisites in person. This may affect medical school admissions. The required learning in quarantine is negatively affected. This may hinder student’s abilities to succeed on the MCAT, the Medical College Admission’s Test, as their learning is not the same in quarantine as it is in in person school. I plan on staying up to date with this as some schools are already considering online school for the coming fall semester. 

https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/medical-school-admissions-doctor/articles/what-the-coronavirus-pandemic-means-for-premed-students

I am also going to write about the stories of different healthcare workers affected. I work in the emergency room, a heavily affected area. From shortages of PPE to constant exposures to COVID-19, healthcare workers put a lot at stake in order to help people. In order to complement the stories of other healthcare workers, I would like to include some broad statistics. 

The FDA acknowledges the shortages of PPE and gives recommendations that are not to the normal standard. Gowns, masks, and other single use equipment are reused for shifts on end. The CDC stated that when masks run out, helathcare workers can resort to using scarfs and bandanas. 

https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/personal-protective-equipment-infection-control/faqs-shortages-surgical-masks-and-gowns

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html

As the project’s due date comes closer, I will continue to keep up with changing statistic. A statistic that I would like to include is the number of healthcare professionals that have been infected within the US. 

My autothenography project is going to focus on the affects that COVID-19 has on pre-med students and other people in healthcare.