Table 1.

Questions, themes, subthemes, sub-subthemes, and students’ sentiments as reported by different schools; with select sample student quotes

Question	Themes	Subthemes	Sub-subthemes	Sample
What were your sentiments during the pandemic?	Positive	Pride	School/university	“I was very proud to be a part of the Columbia University community during this pandemic. The university leaders were very informative, helpful, and communicative from day one. Some professors would teach us via Zoom in the morning, then head to the hospital to help fight COVID-19 immediately after. Even students made a big difference, with some Columbia students in NYC forming a student group to make masks for the frontline workers in the early days of the pandemic [sic].” (USA)
			Healthcare profession	“Proud of the medical field as a whole, and a very good opportunity to learn about crisis and pandemics. Looking forward to seeing what changes are made within healthcare [sic].”(London, UK)
			Citizen of a country	“I felt safe because Germany was in a very good position compared to other countries. Luckily Angela Merkel is such a smart woman and made the right decisions at the right time [sic].” (Halle, Germany)
		Curiosity	Profession	“I was very curious about the life of physician during these times as well as how they are living it [sic].” (Canada)
			Situation/pandemic	“I was curious about the situation. We did have microbiology in the spring so my knowledge on the matter improved at the same time [sic].”(Finland)
		Safety		“I felt quite safe the whole time during the worst part of the pandemic [sic].” (Munich, Germany)
		Happiness and satisfaction		“I was very happy all the time, never felt lonely and kept myself busy. I was getting used to the new situation easily and did not miss a thing [sic].” (Austria)
		Appreciation		“I’ve felt appreciative that I am receiving the training to help if a situation like this arises in the future [sic].”(USA)
		Hope and desire		“Hope everything can soon get back on normal track, and hope no more people keeps suffering from this pandemic (pray) [sic].” (Taiwan)
	Negative	Fear/anxiety	Family and friends	“A strange feeling of fear that relatives or friends got infected [sic].” (Munich, Germany)
			Healthcare profession	“I was worried about the frontline workers who were putting themselves at risk and who had to be isolated from their loved ones [sic].” (USA)
			Future	“I also felt anxious for the future outlook of my profession and how dentistry will never be quite the same [sic].” (USA)
			Education	“I was also anxious about how the changes in the curriculum might affect my future education [sic].” (Halle, Germany)
			Pandemic in general	“Seeing the news everyday about NYC or Italy scared me a lot and I got so upset seeing all those people die because they couldn’t receive any treatment or their condition was just so bad [sic].” (Halle, Germany)
		Anger/frustration	Government	“I felt pretty angry and hopeless about how the US handled the pandemic [sic].” (USA)
			Other people	“…was sometimes angry when other people behaved stupidly and risked others with the actions [sic].”(Austria)
			Situation in general	“Yes I was frustrated because of being home all the time and "nothing to do" and no one to see [sic].” (Finland)
		Disappointment/hopelessness		“There were many adjustments to make while classes were continuing (moving back home etc.), and many disappointments to cope with (events through the rest of the year cancelled and travel cancelled for the summer) [sic].” (USA)
		Guilt		“I felt guilty for not doing more to help (but swamped with studying, given the continued fast pace of classes), and curious about the experience of doctors and what I would do in their situation [sic].” (USA)
		Vulnerability		“Opened my eyes to the fragility of the world, and how important health is (the world seemed to almost shut down) [sic].” (Cambridge, UK)
		Overwhelmed		“I felt overwhelmed and unmotivated at the beginning of the pandemic [sic].” (Austria)
Has this experience changed your outlook on the medical profession?	Positive	Importance	Leadership	“I realized how important it [leadership] is and what an impact government leadership has on the healthcare field [sic].” (USA)
			Healthcare profession	“The pandemic has emphasized the role of medical professionals in my perception. A challenge like this has had me realizing the responsibility for leadership and professionalism of doctors on a national and even on a global level. Medical challenges are public challenges and touch the lives of each and everyone. This line of work feels even more important in the midst of a pandemic like this [sic].”(Finland)
		Respect		“I respect all medical professionals even more because they have been in life danger during this pandemic [sic].”(Finland)
		Reassurance, motivation		“This experience has changed my outlook on medicine as a profession because it has inspired me to want to be able to serve patients with the same passion and dedication that doctors have demonstrated over these last few months [sic].” (USA)
		Awareness	Public health and global health	“Highlighted the importance of public health interventions when necessary [sic].” (London, UK)
			Technology and medicine	“By working with standardized patients on zoom we have gained exposure to telemedicine and some of the challenges that accompany it. It will be interesting to see how the role of telemedicine expands [sic].” (USA)
		Better understanding of the profession		“It has changed my outlook on medicine since I’m seeing a bigger picture in treating patients sustainably and aiming to contribute to taking longtime care [sic].” (Austria),
	No change			“No; I’ve have always seen doctors primarily as individuals who enjoy what they do and feel a sense of duty to protect their patients as best they can [sic].” (London, UK)
	Negative	Limitation of the medical profession		“It highlighted that medicine can be limited—we may not have the treatment for everything, but we do have to deal with such uncertainties [sic]”. (London, UK)
		Risk of the profession		“…that their oath to care for patients overrode their fears for their own health—but some pointed out the uncomfortable implications: their families, who would also be exposed, had taken no such oath. This was a truth that I had not considered about the profession [sic].” (USA)
		Sacrifice and undervaluation		“It has truly shown how undervalued and underpaid essential workers like nurses, careers in elderly homes, and cleaning staff are. Without them and their sacrifices during this time, many more people would have contracted the disease and died [sic].” (Austria)
How did the pandemic affect your career?	Positive	Gained opportunities		“It actually helped me as I was allowed to work in the intensive care in the hospital in a very early episode of my career [sic].” (Munich, Germany)
	Negative	Lost opportunities	Clinical education	“An inability to complete clinical placements and observerships; postponed to the beginning of next year [sic].” (London, UK)
			Research	“Since a lot of research facilities are closed it has changed part of my summer plan for this year but hopefully I can compensate for this later on during my medical student journey [sic].” (Canada)
		Impact on education	Difficulties studying	“It’s also a problem, that in the middle of August I have an exam which equals USMLE Step 1 in the US and right now as libraries are only open for getting books, I have to work and study at home which can be rather exhausting [sic].” (Munich, Germany)
			Loss of knowledge	“… Maybe now I have a worse base in fundamental concepts than I would have gotten with normal instruction [sic].”(USA)
			Delay in education	“It delayed pre-clinical training [sic].” (USA)
	No effect			“I don’t think it affected my career quite a lot. I still have my jobs at the hospitals and even worked more shifts during the pandemic. My university switched to online courses so I won’t have any delay in getting my degree [sic].” (Munich, Germany)
How did your country handle the situation?	Positive	Pride		“The handling of both the German public and state authorities has been remarkable. Having the advantage of having seen how the outbreak can effect a society in Italy, the German response was to relatively fast shut down the whole public life in Germany [sic].” (Halle, Germany)
		Satisfaction		“I think the government did a pretty nice job [sic].” (Taiwan)
	Negative	Anger/critical		“The government has the economy at its forefront of its mind. This means some changes have happened without enough scientific justification. All the actions seemed little too late [sic].”(London, UK)
		Disappointment		“I’d say we did a poor job at handling the pandemic, especially with PPE and prioritizing healthcare workers and their safety as they risked their lives to save patients [sic].”(USA)