Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Academic Activity and Health Status among Romanian Medical Dentistry Students; A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, dental faculties had to rethink their way of teaching and interacting with students and of delivering solid theoretical knowledge and practical skills to students. Background: The purpose of the study was to assess dentistry students’ opinions about the online activity, together with a self-evaluation of their mental and physical health, during the first wave of the pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using an online survey. Three hundred and three students, enrolled across all six years of study, were included in the research. Socio-demographic and academic data were collected, along with a self-evaluation of physical and mental status. Some items investigated students’ opinions about distance learning and the impact of that online activity on their achievement. The answers were rated using a five-item Likert-like scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS (v.24). Results: statistical analyses showed that more than 20% of the students strongly agreed with the statement that they felt more anxious and depressed during the first months of the pandemic, and more than 30% were totally satisfied with their relationships with their family members. One-fifth of the respondents declared that they were totally dissatisfied with the relationships with their colleagues and friends. Overall, 50.60% of the students attended the courses/labs in their entirety when they were connected online. Two-thirds of the respondents considered that their practical training was affected due to the online activity, and that not all of the subjects could be taught online. More than half of the respondents agreed that the most objective evaluation method is that of the multiple-choice exams administered at school, and considered that exclusively utilizing online assessments of students encourages unethical behaviors. Age, involvement in online activity, and active participation using video cameras were strongly correlated with satisfaction with academic results. Conclusions: The results of the present study showed that online activity was a good alternative for dentistry students during the pandemic restrictions. The positive aspects, together with the negative consequences, of distance learning should also be taken into consideration by university teachers and academic institutions to improve teaching experiences and to ensure a solid professional formation for dentistry students.

E-Learning as a Factor Optimizing the Amount of Work Time Devoted to Preparing an Exam for Medical Program Students during the COVID-19 Epidemic Situation

“…Many authors have tried to explore the medical students' and faculty members' perspectives of online learning during the COVID-19 era [8]. As examples, two recent papers by Varvara et al [9] and by Iurcov et al [10] consider the impact of this pandemic on academic activity and health status among medical dentistry students in Romania [9], and also in general dental education challenges during COVID-19 for dentistry undergraduate students in Italy [10]. At present, during the COVID-19 pandemic, e-learning has become a potential approach to technology in education that provides contemporary learners with authentic knowledge acquisitions.…”

Experience of Bangladeshi Dental Students towards Online Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Web-Based Cross-Sectional Study

“…In addition, the results suggested that the unavailability of an online-learning management system (OLMS) was significantly associated with dissatisfaction with online learning among Bangladeshi dental students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the shift from on-site classes to online learning was unanticipated and needed swift implementation for education to continue, the rapid development of an efficient OLMS was a challenge during the pandemic [40,[48][49][50][51]. Previous studies reported that an established online educational system can help dental students to improve their theoretical as well as pre-clinical/clinical skills [44,49,50].…”

“…Since the shift from on-site classes to online learning was unanticipated and needed swift implementation for education to continue, the rapid development of an efficient OLMS was a challenge during the pandemic [40,[48][49][50][51]. Previous studies reported that an established online educational system can help dental students to improve their theoretical as well as pre-clinical/clinical skills [44,49,50].…”

COVID-19 and the impact on the education of healthcare professionals across countries with a particular focus on developing countries

“…Despite this, the online theoretical learning ability was considered low among some dental students in Romania despite allocated times to e-learning 92 . However, others have ascertained that dental students in Romania considered online activities a good alternative to face-to-face learning during the pandemic 93 .…”

“…We are also aware there is increased anxiety among health science students at university, especially those leaving home for the first time without parental support 115 . This situation has typically been exacerbated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated activities 93,[116][117][118][119][120] . For instance, the forced exclusion from the social aspects of campus life has affected the mental health of students and their learning in Universities in UAE and other Universities 120 , with students among Arab Universities encountering sociocultural challenges with e-learning approaches including privacy concerns among female students with webcams 63,121,122 92 .…”