Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: The perceptions of educators about change in medical education

Abstract

Objectives: COVID-19 pandemic has created havoc in every sphere of life and medical education is no exception. To overcome crisis of this pandemic, currently, there is an entire shift in teaching in medical colleges from face-to-face classes to online classes. Virtual teaching requires both technical and pedagogical support and the present study was carried out to assess the perception of medical teachers about this change in medical education. Methods: This analytical, observational, online, and cross-sectional study used newly developed questionnaire that was given to teachers of medical colleges of North India during lockdown period. Answers for the items were read on a five-point Likert-type scale and data was analysed using Descriptive statistics and t-test. Results: A total of 131 participants filled the questionnaire. Out of these 70 (53.4%) were females and 61 (46.6%) were males. Many teachers (33.6%) found online tools to be easier to use and (35.1%) participants were of opinion of possessing sufficient knowledge and skills for conducting online classes but 44.3% of participants want to undergo training for this purpose. Majority of educators (67.2%) did not want to take online classes along with face-to-face classes after COVID pandemic time. Conclusion: Online teaching in medical education is still relatively new but this crisis should be taken as opportunity to explore the potential of online platforms and should enhance technological knowledge for the benefit of future budding doctors.