Paradigms about the COVID-2 pandemic: knowledge, attitudes and practices from medical students

Background: As the disease caused by the new coronavirus has spread globally, economic instability in healthcare systems has been significant, and the lack of knowledge, attitudes and practices among people has led the magnification of this disease. This reality is more accentuated especially in Ecuador, where, although many healthcare workers have been called to help in the regions most affected; the shortage of them combined with cultural and macroeconomic factors have led Ecuador to face the most aggressive outbreak in Latin America. In this context, the participation on the front line of the last year medical students are indispensable. For that reason, appropriate training on COVID-19 to last year medical students is an urgent need that universities and health systems must guarantee. We aimed to describe the knowledge, attitudes and practices in Ecuadorian last year medical students in order to identify the knowledge gaps, perceptions and behavior patterns, which could guide the design of better medical educational curricula on COVID-19. Methods: This was a cross-sectional 33-item online survey conducted between April 6 to April 20 assessing the knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and prognosis toward COVID-19 in Ecuadorian last year medical students. It was sent by email and by Facebook and WhatsApp. Results: A total of 309 students answered the survey. 88% (274/309) of students scored high about knowledge of the disease (more than 16 points). The majority of students 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 in 77% (238/309) and 58% (179/309) of the students, respectively. Moreover 91% (280/309) of students said they did not have adequate protective equipment, neither training in their health facilities (49%, 152/309). Conclusions: The high level of students knowledge is an important opportunity to strengthen, improve and advance their training toward COVID-19. Creating a national curriculum may be one of the most effective ways for all students to be trained. Hopefully with this, negative attitudes will change and students will be better qualified. Keywords: Ecuador, medical students, COVID-19.