Paradigms About the COVID-19 Pandemic: What Medical Students Know and Feel

Background: Ecuador is facing the most aggressive outbreak of COVID-19 in Latin America. The measures taken to control the infection have helped partially and the number of cases and deaths has increased rapidly. For that reason many doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, administrative and support staff have been called to help in the provinces most affected. However the shortage of medical professionals combined with the imminent collapse of the Ecuadorian health care system, make the last year medical students’ support necessary in the front line of combat. For that reason identifying knowledge gaps and behavioral patterns in final year medical students, is important to avoid preventable deaths and facilitate outbreak management.Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey conducted from April 6 to April 20 assessing the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of SARS-cov2 infection among final year medical students in Ecuador toward the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and prognosis of COVID-19.Findings: Ecuadorian final year medical students had high level of knowledge of the disease, and were pessimistic about possible government actions, which is reflected in the negative attitude towards the control of the COVID-19 in Ecuador and volunteering during the outbreak.Interpretation: The high level of knowledge of the students is an important opportunity to take advantage of it and strengthen, improve and advance their training to prepare them for COVID-19. With these new perspectives negative attitudes will change and students will be qualified.Funding Statement: None.Declaration of Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest.Ethics Approval Statement: Ethics committee approval was obtained prior to conducting the study. Consent from the participants was gained at the start of the questionnaire with an explanation of the aim of the study.