Student engagement in a public health initiative in response to COVID‐19

1. WHAT PROBLEMS WERE ADDRESSED?

Because of the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic, universities around the world have closed. In Brazil, as elsewhere, academic activities have been suspended in response to the Ministry of Health recommendations on social distancing. This created the risk of suboptimally utilising the great potential of students to contribute to the COVID‐19 response.

2. WHAT WAS TRIED?

Even without classes, medical students have the means to contribute to the control of the COVID‐19 pandemic and wish to feel part of this historic moment. In a Midwestern Brazilian public university, on 20 March 2020, teachers launched the idea of developing an epidemiological information bulletin to be created by students who had already undertaken basic training in public health. A total of 10 students were interested in participating and joined the Epidemiology and Health Services Observatory (EpiServ), a teaching, research and application project initiated in 2018. The EpiServ produces epidemiology bulletins at national, state and municipal levels. For this activity, WhatsApp (WhatsApp Inc., Menlo Park, CA, USA) and Google Drive (Google LLC, Mountain View, CA, USA) were used as tools to enable teamwork through the use of discussion groups and the creation of shared documents, respectively, ensuring interactivity asynchronously. On 22 March 2020, the bulletin was finalised and revised by the teachers involved to check the quality of its content, its creativity, and the use of simple, clear and objective language. The topics covered were: aetiology and epidemiology; the dynamics of transmission; diagnosis, symptoms and treatment; prevention tips and control strategies; the importance of social distancing, and future research. Subsequently, the students felt the need to reach more people with their material and proposed the creation of a website for EpiServ. Website construction started on 23 March 2020 and the site (www.episerv.com.br) was launched on 27 March 2020. Initially, the site was intended to be used to disseminate the bulletin, but it has become a strategic platform from which to convey important news releases, official documents from the World Health Organization and the Brazilian Ministry of Health, updated epidemiology bulletins and the most recent scientific publications. It also incorporates contributions from students on other courses, such as a video about the importance of taking care of one’s physical and mental health when social distancing. Crucial components throughout the process were: teacher feedback; illustrations of how theoretical concepts are built in practice, and ensuring engagement to constantly improve dissemination of scientific material to website readers. Students have been feeding the site daily and it now includes audiovisual materials produced by 150 medical students. The university has helped to promote the EpiServ website.

3. WHAT LESSONS WERE LEARNED?

This experience allowed new ways of teaching and learning through the use of education technologies that are currently made use of in daily life, but are sometimes little explored by teachers effectively. The most successful aspect of this experience was the space it created for students to be proactive, ¹ to develop their creativity and to apply their acquired knowledge of public health. Thus, teachers dealt positively with the challenges of remote education and students felt themselves to be participating in the fight against COVID‐19, albeit it remotely. We plan to ensure that EpiServ gains visibility by serving as a tool for student engagement even after the COVID‐19 pandemic and to focus on showing students that other public health issues also deserve attention.