Publication:

Undergraduate teaching in COVID-19 pandemic: an experience at tertiary care centre

Background COVID-19 outbreak has taught us to opt for technologies, which have not been used before. There is lot of information available on the internet for learning, but undergraduate students of medicine need continuous guidance. The best platform would be live online teaching which includes student centred learning and observing appropriate COVID-19 social distancing. Aims and objectives of the study was to highlight various positive and negative impacts of COVID-19 on medical education.

Methods The students included in the study are from second MBBS with total number of 200. Time table was planned and everyday two live lectures across their subjects of study were taken. The classes were carried out using the Cisco Webex software. The students were able to ask questions and cleared doubts during and at the end of each class. The feedback of the session was collected by structured format and observations recorded.

Results In the present study the advantages of online classes based on student observations were: learning at ease, flexible environment, no delay in classes, and no peer distraction. In the present study the disadvantages were: eyes are getting strained, network issues, concentrate for long time, disturbances at home and no practical knowledge. In the present study, improvements and suggestions offered were to provide recorded videos or power point presentation, case based discussions, assignments and revision classes to be increased.

Conclusions The present study had several limitations. The study was conducted during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic at a Government Institute where most students belong to middle class. Despite these limitations, we believe the study provides relevant insights into the challenges facing online medical education in a time of healthcare crisis.