Perception of First Year Medical Students Regarding Anatomy Classes by YouTube Recorded Sessions versus Live Online Classes during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a challenging situation for the education system worldwide, as it has restricted student movement as a preventive measure. The teaching methodology impacted the medical education system globally, compelling the teacher to find out the effective online methods of teaching. Aim: To know the level of satisfaction of first year medical students of Anatomy classes by YouTube recorded vs live online classes. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire-based online survey (Google form) completed by 163 numbers of students of phase 1, attending the Department of Anatomy, Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh, Assam. This study was carried out by using a specially designed questionnaire consisting of points, which was related to the present curriculum in Anatomy, as well as the teaching methodology adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic in the institute. Then, levels of satisfaction perceived by the students on uploaded pre-recorded classes on YouTube versus live classes on Zoom or Google meet were assessed in another questionnaire on a three-point scale: excellent, satisfactory, and neutral response. A Chi-square test for proportions was used to find out the statistical significance. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Uploaded pre-recorded classes on YouTube was found excellent by 61.3% of students whereas classes on Zoom/Google meet were reported to be excellent by 17.8% of students (p-value=0.0001). On the other hand, 66.3% of students found the live classes on Zoom/Google meet “satisfactory” against 36.8% of students who were satisfied with uploaded pre-recorded classes on YouTube (p-value=0.0001). However, overall 160 (98.16%) students preferred uploaded pre-recorded classes on YouTube (reported to be excellent or satisfactory), whereas 137(84.05%) preferred live classes on Zoom/Google meet (p-value<0.05; 95%CI of differences: 8.19%-20.62%). Conclusion: From perceptions received from students, it was understood that majority of the students were satisfied with pre-recorded uploaded classes onYouTube.