Effectiveness of Online Pathology Lecture in Medical School Students During the COVID‐19 Pandemic

Abstract

PurposeThe COVID‐19 pandemic altered global humanity via economic and political challenges. It evoked a vigorous response in clinical medicine, as it required rapid development and delivery of COVID‐19 vaccines in less than a year (Le et al., 2020). Similarly, medical education also adapted with the same rate and intensity as its clinical counterparts.Infection control and mitigation measures evolved to limit viral spread. The CDC issued stay‐at‐home orders and directives to close non‐essential places. This included medical schools, which are considered high population density (CDC, 2021). Consequently, traditional in‐person didactics were compromised; educational delivery went to socially‐distanced online modes. Remote online‐learning of medical education includes video conferences for lectures, assessments of diagnostic and clinical skills via online modes, and virtual‐simulation use to aid problem‐based learning.Adaptive online‐learning for medical education boosts strong cooperation from faculty and students to meld curriculum to retain competency and accreditation requirements for students to graduate and become physicians. This study examines online lecture effectiveness during COVID‐19, specifically pathology, as medical students shift to optimize learning for board exam preparation and transition to clinical settings.MethodsIn this preliminary study, second year medical students at a US osteopathic medical school were anonymously surveyed in 2020‐2021 academic year. Target demographic was medical students required to use online learning due to COVID‐19; students had live, in‐person instruction in previous academic year, 2019‐2020, until the shift to online learning started March 2020. Data from survey included quantitative data on effectiveness of online learning versus in‐person lecture for medical students, impact of online learning on students’ foundational pathology preparation for board exams, and students' abilities to apply pathology knowledge with diagnostic reasoning in a clinical setting.Preliminary results show online learning of pathology in preparation for board exams elicited moderate confidence from 58% of second‐year medical students; a majority of students to report online learning as quite effective. Ninety‐two percent of students used external pathology resources (review books, video series, etc.) with online learning. However, more than half of students report low confidence in applying pathology knowledge in a clinical setting.DiscussionOverall, medical students showed moderate confidence in pathology board exam preparation via online learning. A study conducted by Mukhtar et al. (2020) supported online learning in medical schools due to increased student‐centered learning. Students using external board review resources found online learning provides efficient pathology curriculum management with time for board exam review during the pandemic.Most students reported low confidence in applying pathology knowledge in a clinical setting because online learning constraints include lack of integration of clinical pathology and clinical competency skills. Future studies will assess effectiveness of online learning with improved methods to implement pathology curriculum in clinical settings.