Medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Considerations and arguments on their clinical engagement

During the recent covid-19 pandemic, the clinical exposure of medical students has been hindered while the impact on medical education is under investigation. the potential negative impact of medical students on transmission rates, along with the shortages of personal protective equipment (ppe), their lack of proper training, and their limited ability to work independently, give rise to reasonable concerns regarding their involvement in pandemic management. nevertheless, the heavy workload could soon provoke severe deficiencies in the frontline medical workforce. hence, the possibility of covering gaps in human resources by effectively deploying students should not be rejected in advance. additionally, a pandemic poses a valuable learning opportunity for high-quality medical education.