Abstract:

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental health and well-being of the entire society and is placing everyone, especially medical professionals, in an unusual and stressful situation. Educational institutions have had to take urgent measures to provide psychosocial assistance and support to their students to cope with stress and build resilience during the pandemic.

The main objective of the present study is to evaluate the effectiveness of psychosocial mutual help training and students' motivation for practical work in a digital environment through a shared virtual space of the web-platform "STOP COVID-19 STRESS".

Material and methods:
A semi-structured interview was conducted among students from Medical University - Plovdiv, Republic of Bulgaria and the University "St. Kliment Ohridski" city of Bitola, Republic of North Macedonia in July 2022 during training "STOP COVID-19 STRESS" with a focus on motivation for student mutual aid and psycho-emotional support during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Results:
Students indicate that they are sufficiently motivated to actively engage and provide mutual assistance and psycho-emotional support to build strategies and techniques for stress prevention and management. Medical specialists, as a result of practical training, successfully form groups of students in a digital environment, provide psychological and social support to students who are vulnerable to the consequences of a prolonged epidemic situation. Psychosocial well-being and positive outcomes obtained through activities, mutual assistance and social inclusion lead to improved opportunities to achieve optimal healthy functioning, motivation to change lifestyles and promote good practices in a digital environment to address challenges in daily practice.

Conclusions:
Innovative practical work in a digital environment through a shared virtual space on the web-platform "STOP COVID-19 STRESS" is a key contribution to improving the skills of active mutual assistance and tolerance of an inclusive student community. The study confirmed the satisfaction of the participants in conducting practical training in a digital environment, with a significant contribution to the formation of knowledge, skills and professional competence through a web-based platform.

Keywords:

Student mutual aid, practical training, COVID - 19 pandemic.