Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic On Medical Education; Predictors of Educational Difficulties and Poor Acadamic Performance

Abstract

COVID-19 is causing multiple psychological problems directly influencing the ability of learning among students. Objectives: To investigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on medical education and to explore the influence of different predictors of educational difficulties and poor academic performance. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Multan Medical & Dental College, Multan, over a period of one month. Through convenient purposive sampling, all the enrolled students from all specialties who agreed to fill the online survey questionnaire voluntarily were included. A self-developed, reliable and validated research instrument was used as a data collection tool to inquire about the demographic details, psychological predictors and educational difficulties. Results: A positive and significant correlation was observed between the psychological distress due to COVID-19 and students’ educational learning difficulties in medical setting. It was found that depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (p≤0.05) significantly influenced the students’ education and learning but anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder had no significant impact. Females and students with psychiatric history showed higher level of psychological distress and educational difficulties as compared to males and students without psychiatric history. Conclusions: COVID-19 pandemic has tremendously affected the medical education as strong positive correlation has been observed between psychological predictors and students’ educational learning difficulties. However, during this pandemic learning hazard were more significantly perceived in students with depression and obsessive compulsive disorder.