Effects of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Medical Education: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract Introduction: The Corona virus disease (COVID-19) pandemic had a drastic effect on medical education. It led to the closure of teaching establishments, hostels, and medical institutions, as well as displacement from both clinical rotations and their medical school campuses. Medical curriculum was restructured and for some time education was purely virtual. This study aimed to find out the perceived impact of the COVID 19 lockdown on medical education for final year undergraduate medical students. Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out at a government medical college in Mumbai. It included 142 undergraduate medical students studying in the final year of MBBS. The data were collected with the help of an online questionnaire on Google Forms. The questionnaire had an inbuilt consent form that was not mandatory for the students. The questionnaire would terminate if the respondent did not agree to give consent. Results: Our results showed that 36.6% felt that the medical curriculum was to be revised to include more virtual classes, whereas 93.6% said that they were concerned about the loss of clinical and practical experience due to lockdown. About 90% were concerned about how examinations would be affected. 29.6% also wished that they would have rather chosen an alternate professional course or stream due to their perceived stressful lives. Discussion: This present study highlighted the increased academic concerns among final year medical students during the COVID 19 pandemic. Medical schools globally should recognize the need and put systems in place to promote the well being of the future workforce with a pandemic preparedness plan.