A small group of second-year medical students at the University of Saskatchewan aren’t letting the fact they can’t practise medicine stop them from helping during the pandemic.
The students have spent the last couple of weeks juggling online courses and exams while developing a program to support front line physicians and other medical professionals in a range of ways.
That involves matching interested students with working medical staff to do everything from no-contact grocery runs to providing care for children and pets — really anything to make life easier.
“I think we were all feeling similar things about feeling kind of helpless, wanting to help where we could, wanting to pitch in,” said Jessica Froelich, one of the six students involved.
“When we put the opportunity out to the rest of our classmates, everyone was so supportive and so enthusiastic about helping out,” added Sehjal Bhargava, another one of the students.
The group says around 80 U of S students have signed up to help so far, and are in the process of being paired with roughly 15 physicians and nurses who have put their names forward.
Nursing, pharmacy and dentistry students are also involved.
“It’s been really inspiring to see the uptake,” Froelich said.
“We have a lot of students ready to go. I have classmates texting me being like, ‘Hey, when are you going to match me? I’m so bored, please let me do something,’ ” said Alexa McEwen.
“The energy is kind of contagious,” McEwen said, adding that she has already done a grocery run for a physician who is self-isolating at home after possible exposure to the virus.
Bhargava said the students are happy to do anything to free up time for front line health care workers to recoup, both physically and mentally, after shifts.
The province has reported 104 confirmed cases of COVID-19, though a former deputy medical health officer has said there could be as many as 10 times that number in the province.
The medical response is expected to put pressure on the province’s health care system as more people are infected and fall ill, some of whom will require hospitalization.
“A lot of them haven’t necessarily needed to uses our services yet but have expressed that just having it there helps put their minds at ease, helps make them feel supported,” Froelich added.
While the student initiative — whose other organizers include Tayyaba Bhatti, Colten Molnar and Sarah White — is running alongside classes, the students said they aren’t letting that stop them.
“Honestly, doing this kind of work just keeps all of us grounded and keeps us motivated to keep studying medicine. It’s definitely encouraging to see,” Bhargava said.
“It’s hard to stay motivated and feel like you’re working to make a difference (taking classes online). This is one way I think people have been able to fill that gap,” Froelich added.
