A SWOC analysis on the impact of COVID-19 through pharmacy student leaders’ perspectives

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions in many aspects of life across the globe including education provision. This pandemic led to major and rapid restructuring of curricula and assessments as student suddenly moved to unfamiliar learning environment. Active involvement of students in the education process and curricula reform is encouraged. This paper aimed to explore pharmacy student leaders’ perspectives related to their learning during COVID-19 pandemic in terms of strengths, weakness, opportunities, challenges and recommendations to move forward. A meeting with pharmacy student leaders was convened. Each student leader individually reflected on their experiences using a structured SWOC (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Challenges) framework which was then used to guide discussion. Each student then rated anonymously the importance and the probability of the themes to come up with overall score. Online learning came with both negative and positive aspects from the students’ point of view. Despite the efforts that were made by the college and students to adapt to the new educational system, there were drawbacks that may have affected the quality of the education. However, during these unprecedented circumstances, the pandemic has given pharmacy students plenty of opportunities that could positively affect their future career and the delivery of pharmacy education. Pharmacy programmes need to implement strategies within their programmes about disaster preparedness and build student resilience and wellbeing.

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Emergency remote teaching technology and pedagogy at covid outbreak: different perspectives of students, parents, and teachers in Hong kong

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Experiences of burnout, anxiety, and empathy among health profession students in Qatar University during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study

“…At the beginning of the global pandemic, Qatar University, the main governmental institution in Qatar, suspended all classes until further notice as part of preventative measures to reduce the spread of the coronavirus and announced the educational process will continue virtually. The impact of this emergency shift to remote teaching increased faculty and students' academic demands through emergency curriculum changes, financial burdens due to lockdown, and intensified fear of the pandemic itself adversely affecting students' academic performance, mental health and well-being [30]. Students at Qatar University health colleges are a heterogeneous group from diverse ethnic backgrounds with a large number of non-Qatari students reflecting the population structure with respect to nationality (non-Qatari populations represent 88.4% of the population in Qatar) [31].…”