MÉDICOS EN FORMACIÓN EN EL CAMPO DE BATALLA. UN ESTUDIO DE INVESTIGACIÓN NARRATIVA EN MÉXICO.

Introduction: In February 2021, one year after the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic to Mexico, the vaccination so eagerly awaited began. As in many other countries, the first summoned to receive the vaccine were the elderly, because their increased risk of death when contracting this new disease. A group of advanced Medicine students from a public university in Mexico City were involved in the first stage of the vaccination process in an area of southern Mexico City inhabited by low-income population Objective: The purpose of this study was to collect and analyze the experiences lived by four of these students who participated in it. Method: The research was oriented by the theoretical methodological tradition known as Narrative Inquiry, which focuses on the story of lived experiences as a way of representing the human experience deployed in time and space. This strategy delve into the comprehension of the meaning of the events reported for those who experience them in that socio-historical context. The stories analyzed here come from the final social service reports prepared throughout 2021 by the participants, two men and two women. The analysis and interpretation were carried out directly by the author of this paper within the guidelines of the Narrative Inquiry tradition. Results: The stories about the vicissitudes lived by these young future doctors with the older adults they cared for made it possible to highlight some of the anxieties, fears and reactions they faced and some of their effects on the incipient constitution of their professional identity. Final considerations: The stories analyzed nourish the reflection on the personal and professional conflicts experienced on the path that leads to becoming a doctor in a particularly demanding situation and reveal the power of Narrative Inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]