Involvement of Romanian Students in Volunteering Activities During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Medical Education and Healthcare

This article is related to Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being and focuses on preparedness and response strategies, as well as resilient health systems capable of facing health crises. It presents the implementation and perceived effects of two student volunteering programs during the COVID-19 pandemic, underlining implications for medical education and healthcare. A cross-sectional study was performed using anonymous questionnaires among students from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Cluj-Napoca, Romania (April–May 2021); 51 student volunteers involved in activities from the Public Health Directorate of Cluj County (PHDCC) and 78 student volunteers involved in healthcare settings (HCSs) participated. The main reasons to become involved in volunteering activities with the PHDCC were the fact that students found the activity useful and necessary for the pandemic control (100%), an interest in helping other people (98.1%) and the need to be involved in the control of the pandemic (98.1%). Students participated in volunteering activities in hospitals, mainly to develop new medical knowledge and skills (94.8%) but also to apply the medical skills and knowledge they had (89.8%), because of the desire to help other people (88.4%) and the need to be involved in the control of the pandemic (87.1%). More than 90% of volunteers from the PHDCC reported an increase in knowledge regarding the transmission/prevention/clinical manifestations/diagnoses of SARS-CoV-2 and improved their abilities to conduct an epidemiological investigation, their communication skills and their capacity to develop and offer information/educational materials for different population groups and to make informed decisions with medical and legal consequences. Among volunteers in HCSs, the positive outcomes most frequently declared were the belief that this volunteering activity represents an important part of their future career, the opportunity to interact with people who were perceived as competent mentors and the fact that it helped them acquire new medical knowledge as well as made them feel useful. There were several differences noticed based on gender, previous volunteering experiences and volunteering position (student volunteer or student coordinator). Healthcare students might be a relevant resource in crisis situations.