The role of medical students in the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is rapidly evolving. The aim of this review is to explore the involvement of medical students in past global health emergencies, to help inform current and future scenarios.

A rapid systematic review was undertaken, including articles from online databases discussing the roles, willingness and appropriateness of medical student involvement in global health emergencies. Data were extracted, appraised and written up as a narrative synthesis. This study was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020177231).

Twenty-eight articles were included. Medical students played a wide variety of clinical and nonclinical roles including education and logistics, although medical assistance was the most commonly reported role. Challenges included a lack of preparedness and negative mental health impacts. A total of 91.7% of included articles about willingness found medical students were more willing to be involved than not.

This review shows medical students are capable and willing to be involved in global health emergencies. However, there should be clear protocols for the roles that they play, taking into account the appropriateness. As a rapid review, there were study limitations and more research is required regarding the impact of these roles on medical students and the system.