Medical student elective during epidemics: a missed learning opportunity?

摘要

With the novel coronavirus being declared a globalhealth emergency by the World Health Organisation,hospitals and medical sites in afflicted countries arehotspots for the virus to infect and replicate. In lightof such news, many medical students have beenrefused permission to pursue an elective in suchregions and neighbouring countries, by their respec-tive universities. There are obvious reasons for this,with student safety and risk of viral disseminationbeing major concerns for universities. However, thishas created an interesting debate amongst medicalstudents. What should be the appropriate advice fortraveling to epidemic countries not only during thecurrent coronavirus outbreak but also in futureepidemics?