Mobilizing medical students for COVID-19 responses: Experience of Vietnam

To date, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected 185 countries and territories worldwide [1]. Community transmission has been recorded in a large number of countries and regions [2], which has led to a huge demand for human resources. Currently, countries' health workforce has been in sharp focus, especially those are in preventive medicine, public health, and in treating and providing health care for infected people. Meanwhile, there has been great concern among researchers, organizations, and governments about the health care system's ability to cope with COVID-19 [3]. According to International Labor Organization, there was a shortage in the number of workers in the health sector, especially in lower-middle income countries and low-income countries, resulting in disruption of health services [4,5]. The shortage of health workforce, particularly in developing countries, may hinder the delivery as well as management of health care services across the continuum of care during the pandemic, presenting a great challenge in COVID-19 control, both in hospitals and in the community.