RESUMO
Background: Medical education in India is being revolutionized with the introduction of “Competency-based undergraduate curriculum” for an Indian Medical Graduate. It demands great commitment, flexibility to adopt to changes, and lifelong learning. For this, 1 month foundation course was introduced across the country. Unfortunately, the pandemic had cast its shadow on a conduct of this very pertinent foundation course at a classical offline mode and made a shift to online learning inevitable. Aim and Objectives: The aim of the study was to study how the use of technology can result in effective delivery of course content through feedback analysis and online objective assessment. Materials and Methods: Feedback from the students was obtained employing a predesigned questionnaire mailed to them using Google forms and online objective assessment was also conducted after the end of the course. Results: The majority of the students felt that the topics selected were absolutely essential for the medical profession and scored fairly well in the assessment. Conclusion: The results of the present indicate that there was not much difference in students perception about the foundation course whether covered through online or offline mode suggesting a blended learning format to be a useful teaching learning method during the post-pandemic phase.
RESUMO
Background: Chemosensory disturbances such as altered smell and taste sensations have a strong impact on health and quality of life. The lack of awareness of these chemosensory symptoms post-coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 vaccination has led to apprehension. When adequately addressed, it can encourage people to take vaccines which are a life-saving tool in this pandemic. Aims and Objectives: This study aims to assess the prevalence and duration of altered smell and taste post-COVID-19 vaccination. Materials and Methods: The survey was conducted during January–August 2021. The Institutional Ethical Committee clearance was obtained. Data was collected from 242 COVID-19 vaccine beneficiaries majority of them being health care workers by online and offline survey questionnaires. Descriptive analysis was done using SPSS 21. Results: Out of 250 respondents, 242 completed the study. About 95% of them received CoviShield, 3.8% Covaxin, and 1.3% Pfizer. Perception of altered smell (olfactory dysfunction), taste (gustatory dysfunction), and both smell and taste was reported by 5.8%, 8.27%, and 2.61% of study participants. The mean duration was 3.43 ± 2.03 and 4 ± 1.64 days for altered smell and taste, respectively, with complete recovery. Conclusion: Chemosensory disturbances were reported in a small percentage of vaccine beneficiaries and all of them recovered within a few days completely without any medications. Vaccines are a critical tool in the battle against COVID-19 and we should emphasize on its health and lifesaving benefits and reassure those chemosensory disturbances have complete recovery.