Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Education in a Joint Medical Program from the Students’ Perspective

Abstract

Background: In the 21st century, despite the advanced technology, pandemics and natural disasters force universities to evacuate their classrooms. As a result, a shift from traditional to online education has occurred indispensably. This study aims to reveal the advantages and disadvantages of online education for preclinical medical students in a joint medical program. 
 Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted between November 2020 and May 2021. The study population consisted of preclinical medical students at Marmara University- Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Joint Medical Program. The survey form used in the study was prepared in Google Forms, and then a special link was sent to all students via the Microsoft Teams program used for distance education. The survey consisted of four sections; demographic characteristics advantages of online education, disadvantages of online education and references of students. 
 Results: The survey was sent to all students (n=155) studying in the pre-clinical program, and 112 students (72%) participated in the study. 63.4% of the participants were women. 38.4% of the students were Turkish, 31.3% were Turkish Cypriot and 30.3% were international students. The number of students in the first, second and third year were 35, 51 and 26, respectively. The most common advantages of online education for the participants were a chance to review missed parts of the lesson (97.3%), an opportunity to plan study time (59.8%) and increased comfort (54.5%). The majority of the students indicated that they have faced numerous challenges during online education. The most common disadvantages were the difficulty in learning practical lessons, lack of socializing, ineffective communication, technical issues during online classes, less interactive lectures with intense concentration loss, and difficulty in obtaining answers from lecturers. Out of all the participants, 48.2% preferred traditional education, only 9.8% favoured online education and 42% preferred hybrid education.
 Conclusion: Preclinical students at Marmara University-EMU, Joint Medical Program prefer traditional education over online education. Although re-watching a lecture is the main advantage of online education, numerous disadvantages are significant in medical education. However, distance education seems to become crucial due to factors such as disease, natural disasters, and wars in the region as well as advancements in information technologies. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out further research to improve the disadvantages.