Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has upended medical education as well as the lives of healthcare professionals. Higher education institutions have a crucial role in the solution of public health problems by training young doctor candidates, and it is also essential to increase the knowledge level of physician candidates about the epidemic. So, in this study, we aimed to examine Turkish final year medical students' knowledge level and perceptions toward the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: The present descriptive multicentered study was conducted with the medical students in the final year of six medical schools located in six geographic regions of Turkey. After ethical approval, data were gathered using an online questionnaire through Google forms between 10 April 2020, and 20 April 2020.
Results: In this national survey study, 860 volunteers answered the questions thoroughly. The median age was 24 (22-38) years. A total of 55.3% of the participants were female. The median knowledge level score was 69.0 (0-93.1). The knowledge level was moderate. A total of 34.2% of the participants had a high level of knowledge. A total of 48.7% of participants stated that they felt the most competent about performing CPR. Updates about COVID-19 were followed regularly by 84.5% of the participants.
Conclusion: We determined that final year medical students are knowledgeable and aware of this pandemic. We, medical educators, should inculcate relevant knowledge and educate the medical students to improve practices in the current pandemic, as well as for future epidemics. Different learning techniques should be added to the curriculum, especially at the time which widespread panic and uncertainty are prevalent.
Keywords: COVID-19; internship; knowledge; medical education; perceptions; undergraduate.