Interventions to Educate Elementary Students on COVID-19

Students at MCG saw the potential to combine the community’s need for STEM-based programs in elementary schools with the growing need to distribute accurate information amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2020, MCG students initiated a year-long STEM project in partnership with a public elementary school. Through this program, pre-clinical medical students had the opportunity to teach relevant science related topics to fifth grade students. Particularly pertinent were subjects including COVID-19 basics, healthy lifestyle choices, chronic diseases, the human body, and infectious organisms.Answers were validated by evidence-based resources such as CDC, research journals, and NIH.

The numerous benefits elementary school students received by participating in this program included early exposure to professionals in STEM, increased ability to formulate scientific questions, a safe and secure platform to be able to ask questions without feeling judged, and tools to form a positive association with healthcare professionals.A big component of a practicing family physician is teaching, and through this program, medical students were expected to grow their communication and leadership skills to become more effective teachers. With the added layer of the pandemic, it is vital that as future physicians we distribute information about the virus and safety precautions directly to our future generation of leaders, and allow for open and clear communication, explaining the science and presenting evidence based research on why certain precautions are mandatory.