ABSTRACT
Primary care is the basis of numerous attempts and initiatives applied in health reforms in recent years. One of them is the introduction of e-health, which will not only facilitate the work of the general practitioners (GPs) and increase the quality of the offered health services but also protects the environment because it reduces the amount of used medical supplies that require specialised disposal. The aim of the present study is to examine the attitudes towards the application of e-health among GPs in Bulgaria. 381 GPs participated in our study voluntarily, anonymously and without preselection. Most of the respondents knew what the term "e-health" included. GPs work in conditions of partially introduced e-health. They were interested in its application and were ready to actively participate in its development and final implementation in their practice. Around half of the surveyed GPs feared legal regulation (49.6%), followed by difficulties in using technology (47.5%), as well as lack of technical knowledge (35.4%). Less than 1/3 were afraid of misuse of personal information (28.9%). E-health has significant potential to address many of the challenges facing primary care in today's healthcare environment. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the development and implementation of e-health not only in Bulgaria.
ABSTRACT
The aim of the present work is to study the quality of distance learning in medical universities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. An anonymous voluntary online survey was conducted among students from the Medical University – Plovdiv, from all courses, during May-June, 2020. It included a total of 479 students, 352 students were taught in English and 127 in Bulgarian. The first panel had 13 questions related to the overall satisfaction with e-learning, in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The second panel related to the specialty, age, course and gender. The respondents studying medicine were (n = 349;72.9%), dentistry (n = 73;15.2%). According to our respondents, the effectiveness of the form of distance learning introduced at the Medical University of Plovdiv was very good. The average efficiency score given by them was 6.53 ± 2.210 (the scale was from 1 to 10). Students who were taught in English, those majoring in Medicine, and women were more critical of distance learning (p = 0.001). Distance e-learning in medical universities cannot completely replace the traditional one, but it can upgrade it. The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly posed many challenges to medical universities, but it has also created an opportunity for a revolution in medical education. © 2021, Scibulcom Ltd.. All rights reserved.