Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of medical students transitioning from traditional education to distance learning: a prospective cohort

During the rapid COVID-19 spread in COVID-19 pandemic, most first-year medical students had a high level of reactive anxiety, accompanied by depressive disorders and vegetative-somatic manifestations that significantly reduced their adaptive potential, life quality and academic performance. All first-year students regardless of age were shown to be sensitive to stressful situation. The females demonstrated more pronounced psycho-vegetative changes compared to the males. Students of medical, pediatrics and medico-preventive faculties reacted more strongly to the current situation than students of dental and pharmaceutical faculties. The identified changes in the psycho-vegetative student status were associated, first of all, with the difficult sanitary-epidemiological SARS-COV-2 situation and related financial problems. Students considered the transition to distance learning to be the most important support measures. Temporary transition to distance learning led to the significant decrease in the anxiety level, correction of depressive and vegetative manifestations, and significant increase in the life quality that was of great importance for the education quality. Significant student support measures during COVID-19 pandemic were also financial, psychological and informational assistance. The obtained results made it possible to develop the effective strategies for managing student health and education quality during global pandemics.