Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Perceptions of Students about Change in Medical Education

Abstract

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted teaching in a variety of institutions, especially in medical schools. Online learning became the main method of teaching during the COVID pandemic. After 12 weeks of online teaching and online learning, a study was conducted to know about the student’s perception regarding online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: A study was conducted by distributing an online questionnaire to medical students. At the end of the survey, summarized data from a google spreadsheet were analyzed. Descriptive statistics and t-test analysis were used for data analysis. Results: Overall, 460 students answered the questionnaire. According to the respondents’ answers, the main advantages of online learning were the ability to stay safely at home (68.56%), meet academic requirements (26.65%), and the opportunity to beat the boredom of lockdown (4.79%). The majority of respondents chose a lack of interactions with teachers (59.52%). Overall, 51.74% respondents did not want online learning to continue after the COVID pandemic. Conclusions: Online learning is a powerful tool for teaching medical students. However, for its successful implementation, a well-thought-out plan and a more active approach is required.