Socioeconomic and academic consequences of COVID-19 pandemic on medical students from the university of Rwanda

Introduction: Little is known about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the life of university students in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA). The objective of this study was to evaluate the socioeconomic and academic consequences of COVID-19 pandemic on medical students studying at the University of Rwanda, and the lessons learnt from the pandemic. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. An online survey using google form was sent to medical students in clinical training (year 3 till year 5) through snowball sampling method. We collected data on participants’ demographics, general knowledge on COVID-19 pandemic and perception on mitigation measures, and socio-economic and academic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Descriptive statistics were used in excel 2015 software to calculate participants’ responses and categorical data were presented using frequencies and percentages. Results: A total 187 participants completed the survey. Most participants described disruption in routine activities (72.7%), reduced travelling (69%), church closing (64.2%), and loss of freedom (57.2%) as examples of negative social impact. While financial uncertainty (64.7%), decrease in income (49.7%), and increase in poverty rate (42.2%) were the main economic impact. Issues with academic progress (95.7%), limited social life (56.1%), and repeating the year (42.8%) were examples of negative academic impact. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that the COVID-19 had a negative social, economic, and academic impact on medical students at the University of Rwanda. These finding may guide the design of interventions to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and to protect medical students against future pandemics and crises.