Public Health Graduate Students’ Longitudinal Perceptions of Remote Learning Challenges and Career Goals During an Ongoing Public Health Crisis

Abstract

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic created a shift from traditional face-to-face learning toward remote learning, resulting in students experiencing unforeseen challenges and benefits through participation in a non-traditional mode of education. Little is known regarding the impact that a shift to remote learning may have had on the learning experiences and the career goals of Master of Public Health (MPH) students. A qualitative study was conducted among a convenience sample of MPH students in the US from January to April 2021. The primary aims were (1) to describe salient challenges or benefits of learning that persisted throughout a semester of remote learning and (2) to describe how being in graduate school during the pandemic impacted students’ career goals in public health. A secondary aim was to describe students’ general feelings regarding their public health education, given their lived experience of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Study findings demonstrated that MPH students had mixed perceptions of how a shift to remote learning during a public health crisis impacted their learning experiences and career goals in public health over one semester. Understanding students’ responses can guide public health instructors to best prepare trainees to join the workforce during ongoing and future unforeseen public health crises that continue or have the potential to disrupt learning modalities.

Online Learning: Innovative Approaches for Public Health and Health Promotion Pedagogy

“…Next, four original research papers explore online learning from different perspectives which include MPH students’ experience with online learning during the pandemic, the impact of Integrative Learning Experience (ILE) curricular changes, the use of immersive videos in ethics training, and online service-learning. In a qualitative study that examined MPH students’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, Zamora, August, & Anderson (2023) aim to better understand both the challenges and benefits of remote learning as well as explore how learning during the pandemic affected students’ public health career goals. Leon et al (2023) describe curricular changes to the Integrative Learning Experience (ILE) in an online MPH program, and their effects on student satisfaction and time-to-graduation.…”