Should trainees be involved in the direct care of patients with Ebola Virus Disease?

This article was migrated. The article was not marked as recommended. With the world in the throes of the largest outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in history, many institutions in the United States have developed institutional policies and procedures for the screening, diagnosis and management of patients with EVD. Healthcare workers caring for these seriously ill patients are at high risk of contracting EVD through contact with blood and body fluids. With the exception of experimental therapeutics, treatment is largely supportive, requiring healthcare workers to have regular close contact with patients. Given the proportion of healthcare workers who have contracted EVD from patients and the high mortality rate, a central consideration has been whether healthcare trainees should be exempted from the direct care of patients with EVD. Educational needs and ethical issues are discussed. We provide arguments for and against this approach, and present a multifaceted framework that may be useful to institutions grappling with this issue.