Virtual Reality: Medical Students' Thoughts & Perspectives on the Pandemic & Chaos: A Twin City Survey
Abstract Background: The COVID-19 pandemic brought about drastic changes in the way we teach medical students. As the universities shut down to contain the pandemic, teachers and educationists were forced to contemplate upon ways & means to continue teaching our vast medical curriculum, while the students stayed at home, having their world turned entirely virtual. As the lockdown eased, social distancing came into play as it became impossible to teach the whole crowd. The objective of our survey was to determine the level of awareness & perspectives of undergraduate medical/dental/physiotherapy students of the twin cities of Pakistan regarding the pandemic, their experience and satisfaction level to the virtual teaching strategies implemented. Methods: A self-designed, validated electronic questionnaire was created using an online application (Survey Planet). The survey comprised of 30 questions and was distributed to students of 8 institutes of the twin cities via email and social media, during the second & third waves of the pandemic. Results: A total of 1490 students responded. Most demonstrated adequate knowledge of the pandemic, implemented good safety protocols, and were hopeful of the situation. Majority were satisfied with the online learning process, and gave positive view of the handling of the pandemic by their institutes. However, most found difficulty in studying at home, felt that precious time had been lost, and feared failure in exams. Internet connectivity issues were face by the majority. Most were in favour of being vaccinated. Conclusions: Twin city students have good knowledge, practices and positive views of online education.