Background. On the announcement of the COVID-19 health emergency, the Marrakesh School of Medicine accelerated the digitization and the establishment of courses available to students through the faculty platform. We aimed to describe the students’ perspectives toward the online educational approach implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic and to investigate the factors that might affect the implementation of online teaching in the future. Methods. This was a cross-sectional study among medical students in Marrakesh during June-July 2020. Data collection was based on a self-administered electronic questionnaire distributed via the student platform. We studied the knowledge and previous practices of virtual technologies and students’ appreciation of distance learning during the lockdown. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed using SPSS16.0 software. Results. A total of 111 students participated. The female-to-male sex ratio was 2.2 with an average age of 20.6 ± 1.8. The majority of students felt that they had a good knowledge of virtual technologies (on a scale of 1 to 10, 81% ≥ 5/10), and two-thirds reported using them in medical studies. Before the COVID-19 lockdown, 16.2% of the students used the platform and 39.6% did not attend in-person courses (16.0% in 1st cycle versus 49.2% in 2nd cycle, p = 0.01 ). During the pandemic, 79% of the students appreciated the virtual learning (54.0% in 1st cycle versus 89.0% in 2nd cycle, p < 0.001 ) and 80.2% thought that the online courses were understandable. Regarding to student’s preferences, 41.4% preferred blended education and 68.5% of the students would recommend continuing distance learning after the pandemic. Regarding satisfaction, previous use of the educational platform (OR = 66.3, CI 95% [1.9; 2.2 ∗ 103]), improvement of learning during distance learning (OR = 22.6, IC 95% [4.1, 123.7]), and professor support (OR = 7, IC95% [1.3, 38]) seemed to be the most powerful factors in the multivariate analysis. Conclusion. Our results will contribute to the implementation of actions by taking advantage of the experience during the health crisis. The institutionalization of virtual learning with more interaction in addition to the in-person courses is the main recommendation of this study.
The new coronavirus, officially responsible for COVID-19, has spread rapidly internationally despite multiple countermeasures to limit its transmission. Morocco recorded his first case of COVID-19 on March 02, 2020. The main data on the pandemic and its evolution come from the Moroccan Ministry of Health. This paper aims to describe the evolution of the pandemic in Morocco and to highlight the different measures taken to stem its progression between March 02 to April 07, 2020. The measures were taken very early since the declaration of the first case in Morocco on March 2, 2020. After 5 weeks of the epidemic, the number of confirmed cases in Morocco reached 1184 including 90 deaths and 93 recoveries. The evolution of the curve seems to be slowed down compared to neighboring countries like Spain. The wearing of a mandatory mask was implemented on April 7 by the Ministry of Health as an additional measure to flatten the curve and allow the health system to effectively cope with the pandemic. The impact of this measure could be assessed by analyzing the evolution of the curve in the coming weeks. Sharing these results can serve as an example to other countries, especially for low-income countries, in their fight against the COVID-19.
Background. The motivation of this work is driven on the one hand from the need to understand the medical students’ attitude towards medical training in the context of the reform in Morocco and the creation of “family medicine” as a specialty. This study aims to explore the expectations of medical students regarding family medicine and to identify the factors that may influence setting their choices after graduation. Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional study among Moroccan medical students from public faculties during the month of August 2019. The data collection was based on an online self-administered electronic questionnaire. The quantitative data were analyzed by SPSS version 16. The analyses were descriptive univariate (Fisher’s test) and multivariate (binary logistic regression) with a P value of 5%. The qualitative data were synthesized according to a thematic analysis grid. Results. The medical students in Morocco have a positive perception of family medicine as an important specialty but low interest in it as a future career. Only 6.4% had the intention to choose it as a future career. However, 27.5% chose to become a general practitioner if it is a specialty (family medicine, as part of the new medical reform). The factors associated with the choice of career in general practice were mainly the ambition for career development (OR = 4.8; 95% CI [2.46; 9.51]), income (OR = 2.6; 95% CI [1.11; 6.29]), or the personal experience as a student or patient in contact with a general practitioner (OR = 0.48; 95% CI [0.25; 0.92]). Conclusion. The practical experience with family medicine seems to have an important influence on being attracted to family medicine careerwise. The study findings will inform future planning to introduce the residency program.
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