فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

BACKGROUND: The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) has turned attention to theessential competencies needed to confront pandemics for a physician. However, medical students,as future physicians, are not adequately trained for such a situation. This study aimed to determinethe essential competencies for a medical student to face the COVID‑19 pandemic.MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed this mixed‑method needs assessment study at ShirazUniversity of Medical Sciences in May–June 2020 in three steps: the first step was a brainstormingsession followed by a nominal group technique with the experts’ participation. The second stepwas determining the validity of competencies by calculating the content validity ratio. In the thirdand last step, three rounds of the modified Delphi technique were held with the participation of22 medical faculty members and 45 undergraduate medical students to reach a consensus aboutthe competencies utilizing quantitative analysis.RESULTS: A total of 30 key competencies essential for a medical student were obtained through thecurrent study. They were categorized into four major themes: (1) developing knowledge and abilitiesfor effective diagnosis and treatment of COVID‑19, (2) demonstrating safety principles correctly,(3) demonstrating effective behavior, and (4) determining the meta‑competencies.CONCLUSIONS: Although medical students will be the frontline physicians in the future pandemics, theyare not prepared to display the diversity of requisite skills to practice effectively and safely. This studyprovides essential competencies for medical students during the COVID‑19 pandemic and underlinesthe importance of a paradigm shift from traditional time‑based to competency‑based education.