Long-term impacts of COVID-19 volunteering on healthcare professional students’ learning, ethics, and future crisis responses: a multicenter cross-sectional study

Healthcare professional students played a key role in the COVID-19 response alongside qualified healthcare workers. Although immediate effects of this response on students’ learning have been widely reported, long-term impacts on education, ethical development, and preparedness for future health crises remain less explored. This study examined the long-term perceived educational and ethical impacts of COVID-19 volunteering on undergraduate healthcare professional students and recent graduates in Vietnam, focusing on learning disruption, mental health, ethical responsibility, and willingness to engage in future emergencies. A cross sectional, multi-center survey was conducted among healthcare professional students and graduates from three universities between 25 May and 25 November 2022. Participants’ initial COVID 19 volunteer deployments occurred approximately 13 to 28 months before they completed the survey, depending on the pandemic wave in which they first volunteered. These students participated in COVID-19 response activities across four major local surges. The questionnaire assessed students’ ethical views, intentions to engage in future responses to disease outbreaks, and perceived educational impact associated with COVID-19 volunteering. Perceived educational impact was evaluated using eight binary (yes/no) items, with affirmative responses to ≥ 75% of items (≥ 6/8) classified as disrupted learning. Logistic regression analyses identified factors associated with perceived learning disruption. Among 602 students participating in the study (response rate: 82%), 20.1% reported learning disruption. Most (76.6%) expressed a strong ethical obligation to volunteer, and over 80% indicated willingness to participate in future health emergencies. Higher odds of perceived learning disruption were observed among students living alone, while lower odds were observed among nursing students, fourth year students, and participants who had graduated by the time of the survey. Longer volunteering duration was associated with higher odds of learning disruption, while deployment to two or more provinces was associated with lower odds. Vietnam’s mobilization of healthcare professional students during COVID-19 contributed meaningfully to the national response and provided valuable real-world learning experiences. However, a significant minority experienced long-term educational challenges. Future emergency response planning should include structured support for students and academic safeguards. Institutional frameworks must balance emergency workforce needs with ethical and educational responsibilities to ensure sustainable student involvement.