Challenges to Online Medical Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted all aspects of our lives, including education and the economy, as we know it. Governments have issued stay-at-home directives, and as a result, colleges and universities have been shut down across the world. Hence, online classes have become a key component in the continuity of education. The present study aimed to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on online education at the College of Medicine (COM) of Alfaisal University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Between March and April 2020, we emailed a survey to 1,289 students and faculty members of the COM. We obtained 208 responses (16.1%); 54.8% of the respondents were females, and 66.8% were medical students; 14.9% were master’s students, and 18.3% were faculty. Among the respondents, 41.8% reported having little or no online teaching/learning experience before the pandemic, and 62.5% preferred blending online and face-to-face instruction. The reported challenges to online medical education during the COVID-19 pandemic included issues related to communication (59%), student assessment (57.5%), use of technology tools (56.5%), online experience (55%), pandemic-related anxiety or stress (48%), time management (35%), and technophobia (17%). Despite these challenges, most of the respondents (70.7%) believed that the COVID-19 pandemic has boosted their confidence in the effectiveness of online medical education. Consequently, 76% of participants intended to integrate the online expertise garnered during the pandemic into their practice. In short, the modern study demonstrated a largely positive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on online medical education.

Academic Crisis During COVID 19: Online Classes, a Panacea for Imminent Doctors

“…[3,6,9] Majority of our students preferred for a combined approach of teaching after the pandemic for their better academic development. This finding is similar to the study done by Rajab et al [10].…”

Medical Education, Pre- and Post-Pandemic Era: A Review Article

“…This has been especially detrimental for residents in surgical specialties as it has limited their hands-on surgical experience, case-log completions, and their clinical exposure, thereby disrupting their residency training [ 9 ]. However, such crises provide a great opportunity for medical educators to power the technology and to engage medical students and faculty in transforming the current pandemic-imposed remote medical education into an evidence-based paradigm [ 10 ]. Hence, most of the medical schools have quickly adapted to the online classes with the shifting of live clinical exposure to the virtual one using online lectures, video clinical vignettes, virtual simulators, webcasting, online chat-rooms, telehealth; even the research protocols have been modified and have become more flexible to adapt to the current conditions [ 5 , 9 - 11 ].…”

“…Moreover, we need to create more online platforms that are easy to use for the students and faculty, as the ones used during crises so far have been good enough for emergency use only, and are not viable for long-term usage [ 38 ]. On the other hand, some medical educators have suggested combining the traditional face-to-face learning with online virtual learning as creating a combined method will offer the best of both methods individually and will be more durable and sustainable in the long run [ 10 ]. Interestingly, medical students have also been willing to participate in the decision-making process regarding the future of medical education, which should be encouraged in every educational institution since they are the ones who are predominantly impacted by the consequences of such decisions [ 39 ].…”

Online Education for Undergraduate Health Professional Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Attitudes, Barriers, and Ethical Issues

“…Agree (1), neutral (2) and disagree (3). The survey items were developed based on extensive literature review and previously validated scales [13][14][15][16][17]; besides, some items were developed based on qualitative information collected during pilot testing stage. A panel of eight experts in educational technology and socio-behavioral sciences was invited to evaluate the items to assess the face and content validity of the newly developed scales, ensuring that the nal survey item pool re ects the desired constructs of interest.…”