A novel structure for online surgical undergraduate teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background The Covid-19 pandemic necessitated the delivery of online higher education. Online learning is a novel experience for medical education in Sri Lanka. A novel approach to undergraduate surgical learning was taken up in an attempt to improve the interest amongst the students in clinical practice while maximizing the limited contact time. Method Online learning activity was designed involving medical students from all stages and multi consultant panel discussions. The discussions were designed to cover each topic from basic sciences to high-level clinical management in an attempt to stimulate the student interest in clinical medicine. Online meeting platform with free to use basic plan and a social media platform were used in combination to communicate with the students. The student feedback was periodically assessed for individual topics as well as for general outcome. Lickert scales and numeric scales were used to acquire student agreement on the desired learning outcomes. Results A total of 1047 student responses for 7 questionnaires were analysed. During a 6-week period, 24 surgical topics were discussed with 51 contact hours. Eighty-seven per cent definitely agreed (highest agreement) with the statement ‘students benefitted from the discussions’. Over 95% have either participated for all or most sessions. A majority of the respondents (83.4%) ‘definitely agreed’ that the discussions helped to improve their clinical sense. Of the total respondents, 79.3% definitely agreed that the discussions helped to build an interest in clinical medicine. Around 90% agreed that both exam-oriented and clinical practice-oriented topics were highly important and relevant. Most widely raised concerns were the poor Internet connectivity and limitation of access to the meeting platform. Conclusion Online teaching with a novel structure is feasible and effective in a resource-limited setting. Students agree that it could improve clinical interest while meeting the expected learning outcomes.

The Satisfaction Level of Undergraduate Medical and Nursing Students Regarding Distant Preclinical and Clinical Teaching Amidst COVID-19 Across India

“…The findings were supported by Chandrasinghe et al, who concluded that the lack of reliable network infrastructure was a major constraint in online teaching. 22 Poor accessibility to hardware and overwhelming dependence on mobile phones, which have a smaller screen size, might be a crucial reason for the health-related problems such as eye pain, headache, ear pain, etc. as stated by the students.…”

Satisfaction with remote teaching during the first semester of the COVID-19 crisis: Psychometric properties of a scale for health students

“…In the health professionals’ training, we know the restrictions that this has mean for teaching, but still know little of its effects, although there already are studies about this aspect in several countries of Europe [ 5 , 13 , 23 , 45 , 46 ], North America [ 24 ] and Asia [ 14 , 18 , 21 , 47 ], there are no evidences in this respect in Latin-America. Nor is there psychometric evidence backing up the instruments that have been employed up to date, or their suitability for an atypical formation context, such as the Emergency Remote Teaching [ 11 ].…”

“…In the students’ case, they, like the teachers, reported to be worried about bad Internet connectivity and the constraints for access to the platforms used during the Emergency Remote Teaching [ 16 , 18 ]. This was not surprising.…”

Distance Motor Learning during the COVID-19 Induced Confinement: Video Feedback with a Pedagogical Activity Improves the Snatch Technique in Young Athletes

“…The COVID-19 pandemic has affected educational and sports systems worldwide, leading to the near-total closure of schools, universities and collegesand, consequently, the closure of affiliated training centers for young athletes as a measure to curtail the spread of the infectious disease [1][2][3]. Meanwhile, this global health crisis is triggering the application of distance learning modalities in various fields [4], requiring educators to investigate alternative methods with which to enhance knowledge acquisition in these remote environments [5].…”