The Change of Medical Education Landscape in the Midst of COVID-19 Pandemic

BACKGROUND In December 2019, COVID-19 emerged and rapidly spread worldwide. Transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is high; as a result, countries worldwide have imposed rigorous public health measures, such as quarantine. This has involved the suspension of medical school classes globally. Medical school attachments are vital to aid the progression of students’ confidence and competencies as future physicians. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, medical schools have sought ways to replace medical placements with virtual clinical teaching. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to review the advantages and disadvantages of virtual medical teaching for medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic based on the current emerging literature. METHODS A brief qualitative review based on the application and effectiveness of virtual teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted by referencing keywords, including medical student virtual teaching COVID-19, virtual undergraduate medical education, and virtual medical education COVID-19, in the electronic databases of PubMed and Google Scholar. A total of 201 articles were found, of which 34 were included in the study. Manual searches of the reference lists of the included articles yielded 5 additional articles. The findings were tabulated and assessed under the following headings: summary of virtual teaching offered, strengths of virtual teaching, and weaknesses of virtual teaching. RESULTS The strengths of virtual teaching included the variety of web-based resources available. New interactive forms of virtual teaching are being developed to enable students to interact with patients from their homes. Open-access teaching with medical experts has enabled students to remain abreast of the latest medical advancements and to reclaim knowledge lost by the suspension of university classes and clinical attachments. Peer mentoring has been proven to be a valuable tool for medical students with aims of increasing knowledge and providing psychological support. Weaknesses of virtual teaching included technical challenges, confidentiality issues, reduced student engagement, and loss of assessments. The mental well-being of students was found to be negatively affected during the pandemic. Inequalities of virtual teaching services worldwide were also noted to cause differences in medical education. CONCLUSIONS In the unprecedented times of the COVID-19 pandemic, medical schools have a duty to provide ongoing education to medical students. The continuation of teaching is crucial to enable the graduation of future physicians into society. The evidence suggests that virtual teaching is effective, and institutions are working to further develop these resources to improve student engagement and interactivity. Moving forward, medical faculties must adopt a more holistic approach to student education and consider the mental impact of COVID-19 on students as well as improve the security and technology of virtual platforms.

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Effectiveness of Virtual Medical Teaching During the COVID-19 Crisis: Systematic Review

JMIR Medical Education ◽

10.2196/20963 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. e20963

Author(s):

Robyn-Jenia Wilcha

Keyword(s):

Medical Education ◽

Student Engagement ◽

Medical Students ◽

Medical School ◽

Clinical Teaching ◽

Well Being ◽

Medical Schools ◽

Medical Teaching ◽

Advantages And Disadvantages ◽

Virtual Teaching

Background In December 2019, COVID-19 emerged and rapidly spread worldwide. Transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is high; as a result, countries worldwide have imposed rigorous public health measures, such as quarantine. This has involved the suspension of medical school classes globally. Medical school attachments are vital to aid the progression of students’ confidence and competencies as future physicians. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, medical schools have sought ways to replace medical placements with virtual clinical teaching. Objective The objective of this study was to review the advantages and disadvantages of virtual medical teaching for medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic based on the current emerging literature. Methods A brief qualitative review based on the application and effectiveness of virtual teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted by referencing keywords, including medical student virtual teaching COVID-19, virtual undergraduate medical education, and virtual medical education COVID-19, in the electronic databases of PubMed and Google Scholar. A total of 201 articles were found, of which 34 were included in the study. Manual searches of the reference lists of the included articles yielded 5 additional articles. The findings were tabulated and assessed under the following headings: summary of virtual teaching offered, strengths of virtual teaching, and weaknesses of virtual teaching. Results The strengths of virtual teaching included the variety of web-based resources available. New interactive forms of virtual teaching are being developed to enable students to interact with patients from their homes. Open-access teaching with medical experts has enabled students to remain abreast of the latest medical advancements and to reclaim knowledge lost by the suspension of university classes and clinical attachments. Peer mentoring has been proven to be a valuable tool for medical students with aims of increasing knowledge and providing psychological support. Weaknesses of virtual teaching included technical challenges, confidentiality issues, reduced student engagement, and loss of assessments. The mental well-being of students was found to be negatively affected during the pandemic. Inequalities of virtual teaching services worldwide were also noted to cause differences in medical education. Conclusions In the unprecedented times of the COVID-19 pandemic, medical schools have a duty to provide ongoing education to medical students. The continuation of teaching is crucial to enable the graduation of future physicians into society. The evidence suggests that virtual teaching is effective, and institutions are working to further develop these resources to improve student engagement and interactivity. Moving forward, medical faculties must adopt a more holistic approach to student education and consider the mental impact of COVID-19 on students as well as improve the security and technology of virtual platforms.

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Perceptions of medical students towards online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic: a national cross-sectional survey of 2721 UK medical students

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-042378 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. e042378

Author(s):

Samiullah Dost ◽

Aleena Hossain ◽

Mai Shehab ◽

Aida Abdelwahed ◽

Lana Al-Nusair

Keyword(s):

Medical Education ◽

Medical Students ◽

Online Teaching ◽

Medical Schools ◽

Perceived Benefits ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Face To Face ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Learning Platforms

ObjectivesTo investigate perceptions of medical students on the role of online teaching in facilitating medical education during the COVID-19 pandemic.DesignCross-sectional, online national survey.SettingResponses collected online from 4th May 2020 to 11th May 2020 across 40 UK medical schools.ParticipantsMedical students across all years from UK-registered medical schools.Main outcome measuresThe uses, experiences, perceived benefits and barriers of online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic.Results2721 medical students across 39 medical schools responded. Medical schools adapted to the pandemic in different ways. The changes included the development of new distance-learning platforms on which content was released, remote delivery of lectures using platforms and the use of question banks and other online active recall resources. A significant difference was found between time spent on online platforms before and during COVID-19, with 7.35% students before versus 23.56% students during the pandemic spending >15 hours per week (p<0.05). The greatest perceived benefits of online teaching platforms included their flexibility. Whereas the commonly perceived barriers to using online teaching platforms included family distraction (26.76%) and poor internet connection (21.53%).ConclusionsOnline teaching has enabled the continuation of medical education during these unprecedented times. Moving forward from this pandemic, in order to maximise the benefits of both face-to-face and online teaching and to improve the efficacy of medical education in the future, we suggest medical schools resort to teaching formats such as team-based/problem-based learning. This uses online teaching platforms allowing students to digest information in their own time but also allows students to then constructively discuss this material with peers. It has also been shown to be effective in terms of achieving learning outcomes. Beyond COVID-19, we anticipate further incorporation of online teaching methods within traditional medical education. This may accompany the observed shift in medical practice towards virtual consultations.

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Toolbox of teaching strategies

Frontiers of Nursing ◽

10.1515/fon-2018-0033 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 5 (4) ◽

pp. 249-255

Author(s):

Lei Pan ◽

Hui-Qin Xi ◽

Xiao-Wei Shen ◽

Chen-Yu Zhang

Keyword(s):

Learning Environments ◽

Teaching Strategies ◽

Online Teaching ◽

Nurse Educators ◽

Clinical Teaching ◽

Teaching Strategy ◽

Traditional Learning ◽

Teaching Online ◽

Face To Face ◽

Traditional Learning Environments

AbstractA teaching strategy is a method, which can help students to gain knowledge, deliver information, and improve their learning. Different learning environments, such as clinical teaching, online teaching, and face-to-face traditional learning environments, require different teaching strategies for students. Choosing teaching strategies for a course is very important for nurse educators because various factors should be taken into account to make students meet the learning outcomes. The use of modern technologies in teaching strategies can improve students’ competencies and confidences. The purpose of this article is to create a toolbox integrating ten teaching strategies that can be used in different teaching environments.

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Teaching Statistics and Operations Research Online

Cases on Successful E-Learning Practices in the Developed and Developing World ◽

10.4018/978-1-60566-942-7.ch020 ◽

2010 ◽

pp. 298-311 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

A. Juan ◽

J. Faulin ◽

P. Fonseca ◽

C. Steegmann ◽

L. Pla ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Operations Research ◽

Online Teaching ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Online Courses ◽

Web Based ◽

Face To Face ◽

Face To Face Instruction ◽

Based Instruction

This chapter presents a case study of online teaching in Statistics and Operations Research (OR) at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). UOC is a purely online university with headquarters in Barcelona, Spain, with students from many countries. As common to most math-related knowledge areas, teaching and learning Statistics and OR present difficult challenges in traditional higher education. These issues are exacerbated in online environments where face-to-face interactions between students and instructors as well as among students themselves are limited or non-existent. Despite these difficulties, as evidenced in the global growth of online course offerings, Web-based instruction offers comparative benefits to traditional face-to-face instruction. While there exists a plethora of literature covering experiences and best practices in traditional face-to-face instruction in mathematics, there is a lack of research describing long-term successful experiences in Statistics and OR online courses. Based on the authors’ experiences during the last decade, this chapter aims to share some insights on how to design and develop successful online courses in these knowledge areas.

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COVID-19 Pandemics and Impacts on Medical Educators in China

10.21203/rs.3.rs-396178/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Meiling Chen ◽

Shiqian Zou ◽

Siyi Wang ◽

Babatunde Akinwunmi ◽

Wai-Kit Ming

Keyword(s):

Information Technology ◽

Medical Education ◽

Online Teaching ◽

Descriptive Statistics ◽

Response Analysis ◽

Medical Teaching ◽

Web Based ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Before And After ◽

Medical Educators

Abstract Background: Education informatization is still in the early stage in China. The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic led medical educators passively incorporating information technology for remote medical teaching, in which challenges and opportunities have co-existed.Objectives: The objectives of this study were to (1) explore the medical educators' perception and experience of online teaching in medical education before and after emergency remote teaching (ERT) experience during the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) illustrate the medical educators' satisfaction on the contribution of online teaching on medical teaching, and (3) reveal the main challenges medical educators met when they conduct the ERT during the COVID-19 epidemic, and to demonstrate whether the challenges are a different by age or gender including some other factors.Methods: A web-based questionnaire was disseminated to the faculty of medical education departments at higher institutions in China. The collected quantitative data of the questionnaire were analyzed by using the SPSS software package. Descriptive statistics were conducted on demographic data and the perception and experience of medical educators before and after the COVID-19 were shown as the frequencies and percentages, while the teachers' opinions on contribution of online teaching on medical education were analyzed by descriptive statistics with means and standard deviations. Multiple response analysis combined with crosstabulation chi-square test was applied, and a P-value <.05 was considered to be statistically significant to exams the relationship between age as well as gender and difficulties met in online teaching respectively.Results: A total of 26 medical educators (65.38%, n=17 female and 34.62%, n=9 male) were valid participants. Total 57.69% (n=15) of them had used web-based teaching before the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas 43.21% (n=11) had not. The agreement level on the teaching effect of online teaching was medium, with a mean value of 2.55 (range from 1-5). The first two difficulties medical teachers came across in online teaching were the web-based instructional design (27%), and the unfamiliarity with web-based teaching tools (25 %). No significant difference in the types of difficulties encountered by different ages (P=0.969) or gender (P = 0.873) in online teaching.Conclusions: The majority of medical educators are open-minded to incorporating online teaching into their teaching practice in the future. However, medical educators in China commonly faced shared difficulties when they adopted online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Identify these challenges and proposing some relevant suggestions to promote a further increase in the active adoption of information technology in medical education.

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Impostor Syndrome: A Calling for a Career in Medical Education? (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.20622 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Marinos G Sotiropoulos

Keyword(s):

Medical Education ◽

Medical Students ◽

Teaching Methods ◽

Personal Experience ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

Teaching Methodology ◽

Medical Teaching ◽

Internal Process ◽

Impostor Feelings ◽

Impostor Syndrome

UNSTRUCTURED Is it possible that medical students suffer from impostor syndrome due to inadequate teaching methods? Although there is no evidence to support this hypothesis, it is worth exploring: impostor syndrome could be an outcome of defective teaching methodology in medical schools. Students who are most affected may be the ones most invested in growth and learning, and the impostor feelings could signify a tendency to simplify, understand and explain essential concepts. This could translate into a talent in medical teaching. A personal experience that led to a vocation for medical education is used as an example of this internal process that could benefit medical students and healthcare professionals with similar perceptions.

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The Utilization, Innovation and Development of CBL in Clinical Medical Education during the COVID‐19 Pandemic (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.31095 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Langyu Xu

Keyword(s):

Medical Education ◽

Smart Phone ◽

High Tech ◽

Face To Face ◽

Learning Platform ◽

New Directions ◽

Case Based Learning ◽

Clinical Thinking ◽

Long Term Impact

UNSTRUCTURED Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has severely prevented the traditional face-to-face teaching, including the case-based learning (CBL), in medical education. While learning and instructing online has become the main way of teaching worldwide during the pandemic, it cannot yet fully meet the needs of medical students to improve their clinical thinking ability that requires experience in the hospital. Therefore, the online CBL shows special advantages in the situation. Here, we have examined the advantages and limitations, innovation, and recent development of internet based CBL (I-CBL) in clinical medical education to not only meet the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, but also put forward new directions for internet based future medical education. Methods: We compared three leading methods of I-CBL described in the literature, i.e., WeChat, Online Conference, and Online Learning Platform. We analyzed the key development of I-CBL and then suggested new directions for further expanding it. Results: WeChat has more advantages over the other two methods in many aspects in China, where it is the main smart phone app for communication. Therefore, it is recommended that universities adopt WeChat or similar apps to enable I-CBL. Conclusion: There are still many gaps in the development of I-CBL. Compared with the short-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the long-term impact and significance of I-CBL is more noteworthy. Colleges and universities should be prepared to invest into integrating high-tech with I-CBL to modernize medical education in the internet 5G age.

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Online Learning

Handbook of Research on Teaching and Learning in K-20 Education - Advances in Educational Marketing, Administration, and Leadership ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-4249-2.ch027 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 460-474

Author(s):

Thomas G. Reio ◽

Cyntianna C. Ledesma Ortega

Keyword(s):

Online Education ◽

Personal Growth ◽

Online Teaching ◽

Online Course ◽

Optimal Learning ◽

Face To Face ◽

Professional Needs ◽

Course Offerings ◽

Short And Long Term

Online education continues to grow appreciably to meet both institutional needs for short- and long-term viability and student personal and professional needs for flexible delivery of course offerings. Faculty remains decidedly ambivalent, however, about the legitimacy of online course offerings. This doubt emerges from perceptions of: increased workloads as compared to face-to-face courses, inadequate compensation, lack of a fair reward system for promotion and tenure, and online course inferiority as a means of fostering optimal learning. After being identified through a structured review of recent empirical research, demotivators (e.g., questionable learning outcomes) and motivators (e.g., opportunity for personal growth) of faculty online teaching participation are examined through the lens of self-determination theory. Recommendations such as providing increased support are put forward to increase the likelihood of faculty online teaching.

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Medical Education, 1900–1950: Clinical Teaching

American Medical Schools and the Practice of Medicine ◽

10.1093/oso/9780195041866.003.0017 ◽

1987 ◽

Author(s):

William G. Rothstein

Keyword(s):

Medical Education ◽

Medical School ◽

Medical Research ◽

Basic Science ◽

Clinical Teaching ◽

Medical Schools ◽

Faculty Members ◽

Full Time ◽

Time Faculty ◽

Basic Medical

The professionalization of academic medicine occurred in the clinical as well as the basic science curriculum. Full-time clinical faculty members replaced part-time faculty members in the wealthier schools. Medical specialties, many of which were rare outside the medical school, dominated the clinical courses. Clinical teaching, which was improved by more student contact with patients, occurred primarily in hospitals, whose patients were atypical of those seen in community practice. The growing importance of hospitals in medical education led to the construction of university hospitals. Early in the century, some leading basic medical scientists called for full-time faculty members in the clinical fields. They noted that full-time faculty members in the basic sciences had produced great scientific discoveries in Europe and had improved American basic science departments. In 1907, William Welch proposed that “the heads of the principal clinical departments, particularly the medical and the surgical, should devote their main energies and time to their hospital work and to teaching and investigating without the necessity of seeking their livelihood in a busy outside practice” Few clinicians endorsed this proposal. They found the costs prohibitive and disliked the German system of medical research and education on which it was based. Medical research in Germany was carried on, not in medical schools, but in government research institutes headed by medical school professors and staffed by researchers without faculty appointments. All of the researchers were basic medical scientists who were interested in basic research, not practical problems like bacteriology. Although the institutes monopolized the available laboratory and hospital facilities, they were not affiliated with medical schools, had no educational programs, and did not formally train students, although much informal training occurred. For these reasons, their research findings were seldom integrated into the medical school curriculum, and German medical students were not trained to do research. German medical schools had three faculty ranks. Each discipline was headed by one professor, who was a salaried employee of the state and also earned substantial amounts from student fees. Most professors had no institute appointments and did little or no research.

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