Perception and experience of online classes among undergraduate and postgraduate medical students during COVID-19

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to analyze the perception and experiences of online classes among undergraduate and post-graduate medical students during COVID-19. Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted in the Medical College of Nepal. A self-administered semi-structured questionnaire was developed through extensive review of related literature. It was sent among 304 students. Student who did not want to take part in a survey, didn’t respond to all questions were excluded from the study. The data was received via email and completeness was checked. Out of 304 student, 265 students met the criteria for study. Two parts of the questionnaire included: demographic data related to medical students and online classes; and five perception-related questions which are measured by Likert scale. Perception of student were divided into positive, neutral and negative. Results: About 265 students out of 304 students completed the form which is 87.1% response rate. The mean age of the students was 24.5±2.5 years. Majorities of students (87.5%) used wifi and almost two third students (66%) wanted two classes per day. Nearly half (49.4%) students felt happy with initiation with online classes and 50.1% said voice was clear during classes. Overall, positive perception was found on was 72.15% of students toward online classes. Conclusions: Majorities of students used wifi. Nearly 50% of the student feel happy with initiation of online classes. More than two third students had a positive perception toward online classes. Online learning became the alternative option to continue academics during COVID-19.