Perceptions of Medical Students towards Online Learning during COVID 19

ABSTRACT

Objective: To determine the perceptions of medical students towards online learning during COVID 19 Study Design: Cross sectional online survey Place and Duration of Study The Department of Pediatrics, Post Graduate Medical Institute/Ameer-ud-Din Medical College, Lahore General Hospital, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan from November 2020 to March 2021. Materials and Methods: Undergraduate medical students of fourth and final year MBBS were included in the study after approval from Institutional Review Board. They had to answer a questionnaire sent to them as Google Forms TM. Responses from 171 students were received and analyzed using SPSS version 24. Results: Among 171 students, 56 (32.7%) were male and 115 (67.3%) were female. Smart phone (56.7%) was the most common gadget used for online learning. Ability to stay home (69%) was the most frequent advantage recorded followed by access to online materials (68.4%),. while lack of patient interaction was the most common disadvantage (73.7%) followed by technical problems with IT equipment (52.6%). Online learning was considered to be less effective than traditional learning in terms of ability to increase knowledge, clinical skills and social competences. Students were less active during online classes as compared to traditional face to face teaching and majority (66%) rated online learning as unenjoyable. Conclusion: Undergraduate medical students rated online learning less effective and less enjoyable than traditional learning. Necessary measures should be taken to improve quality of online learning of undergraduate medical students during COVID 19 pandemic.