Ohio State College of Medicine students learn management in a new course which started April 6. Credit: Amal Saeed | Photo Editor
A new College of Medicine elective course is preparing students for the next disaster or pandemic.
Twelve fourth-year Ohio State College of Medicine students enrolled in the disaster medicine elective will be prepared for disease pandemics, such as COVID-19, natural disasters, terrorist attacks and other mass casualty events, according to an April 9 press release from the Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State.
“We try to prepare the students with an all-hazards approach so that they’re able to approach any kind of disaster,” Dr. Daniel Bachman, an instructor of the course and the director of the medical center’s safety and emergency preparedness, said. “This is something that students will face at some point in their medical career. And in a variety of different forms, they’ll probably face this multiple times.”
The course, which began April 6, will be taught virtually over four weeks and give students an overview of disaster management techniques used nationally and internationally, Bachmann said.
The medical students will learn how to properly put on personal protective equipment, decontaminate equipment when exposed to chemicals and work in the Ohio Department of Health COVID-19 call center, according to the release.
Students will also be exposed to ethical decisions they might have to make during a disaster, such as determining which patients receive treatment when resources are limited, Bachmann said.
Students will work through tabletop exercises meant to virtually simulate a disaster or pandemic that will allow them to see the different moving parts of disaster response, Bachmann said.
Learning how to handle a pandemic while living through one adds a token of realism for the students, Bachmann said.
“It’s like learning a new language while you’re living in that culture that speaks that language,” Bachmann said. “They can learn something in the class and then turn on television or read the newspaper, look at social media and see how those concepts are actually playing out.”
Jill Kanney, a fourth-year medical student enrolled in the class, said seeing the similarities in what she learns in class and what is playing out in real life helps the course material sink in.
“You learn about these pandemics,” Kanney said. “But you never actually fully understand what went on during that time.”
Kanney said the course also helps her process what’s going on and feel at ease.
“Even though our road feels a bit chaotic to everyone right now and everything seems to be changing by the day, it’s comforting to know that all these big decisions being made have had so much thought put into them,” she said.
The course will be offered to 200 medical, pharmacy and veterinary students in May, according to the release.
