In March 2020, medical students across the United States were pulled from their in-person responsibilities and learning in response to COVID-19. Leaders in the U.S. medical education system then began the arduous task of determining when, and how, to restore their full scope of training. This challenge was complicated by a paucity of readily available historical information about U.S. medical students in pandemics. To fill this knowledge gap, the authors collaborated with a medical history archivist to describe the experience of U.S. medical students during the 1918 influenza pandemic and compare it with the modern day. The experiences and responsibilities of medical students differed tremendously between the 2 pandemics. In 1918, U.S. medical students typically were conscripted into clinical service if they did not volunteer, assuming the roles of physicians, physician assistants, and nurses, often with atypically high levels of autonomy. Medical students were at great risk during the 1918 pandemic; multiple medical schools recorded students dying from influenza. In contrast, during the early COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. medical students were removed from the clinical environment, even if they wanted to volunteer, assuming ancillary roles instead. Upon returning to the clinical environment, most were not permitted to care for COVID-19 patients. The few medical students who recorded personal narratives about 1918 felt that caring for patients with influenza significantly influenced their growth and development as future physicians. One of the few things U.S. medical education had in common between the 1918 and COVID-19 pandemics was a lack of preparedness that impaired readiness and increased confusion among medical students. As U.S. medical education reflects on its response to COVID-19, the authors hope that their findings will provide context for future discussions and decisions about the role of medical students in pandemics.
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