The Impact of Work Experience in a Dispensary Hospital duringthe COVID-19 Pandemic on the Emotional State of Medical Students: AQualitative Study

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the studies, daily life and mental health of medical university students, as confirmed by numerous studies. The lack of such research in Kazakhstan determines the relevance of our work. This study aims toanalyze the opinions of 5th-year students of the "General Medicine" educational program atthe West Kazakhstan Medical University named after Marat Ospanov regardingthe impact of work in a dispensary hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic on their psychological state. The study designwasqualitative. The analysis of responses to the task on the topic "Emotional burnout" was carried out during the elective cycle "Communication skills in clinical practice". A total of 217students program participated in the study, including 159 women (73%) and 58 men (27%).The average age was 23.5 ±1.5 years. Of the presented number of respondents, 9% (20 students) had experience working as middle and junior health workers in a dispensary center. When processing theanswers, 6 topics and 14 subtopics were identified, characterizing changes in the emotional, cognitive, motivational and personal aspects of the psychological state, as well as changes indicating an increase in the importance of interpersonal interaction and strengthening of communicative competence. Work in a dispensary hospital influenced the transformation of the emotional status of students who worked in the hospital from a state of denial of threat and rejection of the surrounding reality, through difficulties in communicating with patients and relatives in combination with emotional burnout to the formation of socially significant emotions of empathy and empathic care. The real result for these students was a rethinking of life values in relation to their personality, family and society.Keywords:COVID-19, medical students, qualitative research, emotional burnout, personality, pandemic.