CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN ONLINE LEARNING OF GENERAL MEDICINE: STUDY AMONG PHASE 4 MBBS STUDENTS IN INDIA

Abstract

Introduction: Following the COVID-19 pandemic, India enacted complete shutdowns including medical

colleges. When medical educators and students searched for new teaching and learning methods, they

discovered online learning. Students were having a hard time keeping up their high standards of

instruction while adjusting to the new online learning environment. The current study's objectives were

to describe the opportunities and identify the difficulties that Phase 4 medical students had when

learning general medicine through online platforms.

Methods: A mixed type of study was done in the Perambalur medical college among Phase 4 medical

students, which lasted for 4 months. Those who were willing to participate in the study were included

whereas who were not responded to mail were excluded. With the intention of examining the difficulties

and prospects in online education, the focus group discussion lasted 45 minutes and the whole session

was recorded as a video. Then, 150 students participated in a quantitative study by direct interview

using a semi-structured questionnaire.

Results: About 31% of the students’ hail from rural areas. Most of the students (62%) felt they gained

not much knowledge through online classes and about 61% felt they got less chance for rest between

lectures. About 82% of the students felt they were comfortable with online classes rather than classroom

teaching and 74% of them felt less stress in the learning process in their home.

Conclusion: The main challenges felt by the students about online teaching of general medicine

subjects were not gaining much knowledge and not getting enough rest between lectures. The

opportunities felt by the students during online teaching were convenience, less stress, and the ability

to record lectures.