Perception of medical education by learners and teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional survey of online teaching

Abstract

COVID-19 lockdowns have deeply impacted teaching programs. Online teaching has suddenly become the main form of medical education, a form that may be used as long as the pandemic continues. We aimed at analyzing how online teaching was perceived by both teachers and learners to help determine how to adapt curricula in the next few years. An anonymous cross-sectional survey of medical students, pediatric residents, neonatal fellows, and their respective teachers was conducted between June and August 2020 to assess feelings about quality, attendance, equivalence, and sustainability of online teaching programs. 146 Students and 26 teachers completed the survey. 89% of students agreed that the offered online teaching was an appropriate way of teaching during the pandemic. Less than half of learners and teachers felt they have received or provided a training of an equivalent level and quality as in usual courses. About one-third thought that this online teaching should continue after the crisis ends. Medical school students had significantly more mixed opinions on online teaching than residents and fellows did. Attendance of learners significantly improved with synchronous online classes (p < 0.001), and among more advanced learners (p < 0.002). Our study is the first of this kind to assess simultaneously the feelings of learners at different levels (medical students, residents, and fellows) and their respective teachers of pediatric on programs taught online. It showed that online programs were perceived as appropriate ways of teaching during the COVID pandemic. Further studies are, however, needed to assess the efficacy of such teaching methods on medical skills and communication capabilities.

An Emergency Shift to e-Learning in Health Professions Education: A Comparative Study of Perspectives between Students and Instructors

“…However, as the literature suggests, while learners report preferences regarding their learning styles, they also tend to adapt their learning to the available teaching strategies, based on the context and motivations (Entwistle, 1997). Recently, Motte-Signoret et al (2021) indicated that both medical students and their instructors perceived e-learning as a suitable alternative medical education delivery method during the pandemic.…”

Impacts of Online Education on Teaching Quality and Satisfaction of Medical Students During Covid-19: A Case Study in a Private University in Vietnam

“…In response to that, medical education has undergone changes and adjustments to maintain standards in medical education as well as minimize disruptions in knowledge training (Tabatabai, 2020). As an educational discipline that requires a lot of experimentation, medical education in the context of the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the need to develop online learning and virtual education (Emmanuelle et al, 2021). For VR in the medical field, users have a visual impression of their experience.…”

Lessons Learned from Developing Digital Teaching Modules for Medical Student Education in Neurosurgery during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Since the end of 2019, COVID-19 has evolved into a pandemic [1] that made governments worldwide implement unprecedented non-pharmacological interventions in order to respond to the rapid spread of this new, life-threatening disease [4]. One of these measures, namely the enforcement of social Healthcare 2021, 9, 1141 2 of 8 distancing, resulted in fast transition from traditional teaching to digital teaching where feasible [5][6][7].…”

“…During the COVID-19 pandemic, educational institutions worldwide have faced a similar need for transition to digital teaching [5][6][7], while students, particularly in low-or middle-income countries, may encounter new or increasing barriers complicating educational access [11][12][13][14]. Maity et al [14] reported that university students, probably due to their overall higher maturity and commitment, appear to be less affected by the difficulties that arise from the pandemic-driven transition to digital education than students at school or at college.…”