Article type
Abstract
"Background After China adjusted its epidemic prevention and control policies, there has been a sharp increase in the number of infections. Village doctors have played a crucial role in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in rural areas, but there are still issues.
Objective To understand the experience, difficulties, and training need among village doctors in their coping with COVID-19, to assess whether village doctors are prepared for future infectious disease outbreaks, and to recommend ways to prepare village doctors for future pandemics.
Methods From March to June 2023, a survey was conducted among 59 village doctors selected from two counties in Wuwei Prefecture, Gansu Province by convenience sampling.
Results More than 81% of the village doctors perceived to have familiarity with COVID-19 prevention and treatment, symptom-specific treatment, medication use, home-based protection, use traditional Chinese medicine for COVID19, and COVID-19 related education. However, nearly half (49%) reported not very familiar in COVID-19 diagnosis. Naturally, 86% of village doctors were willing to participate in training on COVID-19, and the demand for training content was mainly focused on COVID-19 diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. In particular, online learning and distribution of learning materials was the most preferred training delivery modality (80%); peer-group learning was the most preferred format compared others (76%).
Conclusion There are still limitations on the actual capacity of village doctors to respond to future pandemics. To prepare village doctors for future public health emergency such as infectious disease outbreaks, it is necessary to strengthen continuing education for village doctors, focusing on practice-centered and targeted geted contents, with diverse modalities and differentiated assessments, so as to improve their practical skills. At the same time, it is critical that government agencies ensure adequate stockpiles and supplies of basic emergency response materials for village clinics."
Objective To understand the experience, difficulties, and training need among village doctors in their coping with COVID-19, to assess whether village doctors are prepared for future infectious disease outbreaks, and to recommend ways to prepare village doctors for future pandemics.
Methods From March to June 2023, a survey was conducted among 59 village doctors selected from two counties in Wuwei Prefecture, Gansu Province by convenience sampling.
Results More than 81% of the village doctors perceived to have familiarity with COVID-19 prevention and treatment, symptom-specific treatment, medication use, home-based protection, use traditional Chinese medicine for COVID19, and COVID-19 related education. However, nearly half (49%) reported not very familiar in COVID-19 diagnosis. Naturally, 86% of village doctors were willing to participate in training on COVID-19, and the demand for training content was mainly focused on COVID-19 diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. In particular, online learning and distribution of learning materials was the most preferred training delivery modality (80%); peer-group learning was the most preferred format compared others (76%).
Conclusion There are still limitations on the actual capacity of village doctors to respond to future pandemics. To prepare village doctors for future public health emergency such as infectious disease outbreaks, it is necessary to strengthen continuing education for village doctors, focusing on practice-centered and targeted geted contents, with diverse modalities and differentiated assessments, so as to improve their practical skills. At the same time, it is critical that government agencies ensure adequate stockpiles and supplies of basic emergency response materials for village clinics."