scholarly journals Study on the effectiveness of online classes for undergraduate medical and dental students of Gandaki Medical College during COVID 19 pandemic period in Nepal

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 36-40
Author(s):  
Sapna Laxmi Tuladhar ◽  
Dilesh Pradhan ◽  
Umesh Parajuli ◽  
Pratik Manandhar ◽  
Nuwadatta Subedi

Introduction: Pandemic situation of COVID 19 had an impact on medical education globally leading to cancellation of lectures, laboratory exercises, clinical postings and exams. To continue with the academic program, the online classes are started in different academic streams in large scale. This came with challenges and new learning opportunities for medical students and potential to adopt some changes. The objective of this study is to find out the effectiveness of online classes for medical and dental students of Gandaki Medical College (GMC) during COVID 19 pandemic period in Nepal with questionnaire based survey distributed to the students attending the online classes. Materials and Method: This is a descriptive cross sectional questionnaire based online survey. The questionnaires were distributed to the undergraduate medical and dental students of GMC, Pokhara, Nepal. Result: Amongst the students who responded, majority 205 (98.1%) were attending online classes. The device used by most of the student to attend the classes was smart phone 156 (74.6%). The strength of internet of the students was good in 41 (19.6%) and satisfactory in 99 (47.40%). The internet was disturbed by electricity cut down as responded by 66(31.6%) students. Almost 140 (67%) of the respondents rated the online classes were interactive and 124(59.33%) rated the classes were not disturbing. Despite the classes being interactive and non-disturbing, 162(77.51%) of respondents rated that the online classes were not effective. The online classes with one to 51 number of students showed good interactions as compared to classes with 51 to 100 number of students (p<0.01). There was no differences seen in the effectiveness in online classes between these medical and dental students (p=0.414). Conclusion: Good numbers of students had participated in online classes in medical and dental streams at GMC. The students faced problems in internet connectivity due to electricity cut down. The online classes were not that effective as class room classes. In country like Nepal, various factors affecting the online education should be looked upon to make the online learning effective.

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reham Hassan ◽  
Ayman R. Khalifa ◽  
Tarek Elsewify ◽  
Mohamed G. Hassan

Objectives: To evaluate the perceptions of clinical dental students on the role of online education in providing dental education during the COVID-19 crisis.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was sent to four Egyptian dental schools from the 20th of January 2021 to the 3rd of February 2021. Survey questions included the demographics, uses, experiences, perceived benefits, and barriers of distance learning in dentistry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Responses were collected from the clinical dental school students. Categorical data were presented as frequencies (n) and percentages (%) and were analyzed using Fisher’s exact test.Results: Three hundred thirty-seven clinical dental students across four Egyptian dental schools responded. Most students used either Google Classroom or Microsoft Teams to access the online content. The data showed that the COVID-19 pandemic affected the academic performance of most participants (97.4%) with varying degrees. On average, students were neutral when asked to rate the online lectures, but did not find online practical education as effective (81.3%) as online theoretical teaching. The commonly described barriers to online teaching included loss of interaction with educators, inappropriateness in gaining clinical skills, and the instability of the internet connection.Conclusion: Despite the reported benefits, clinical dental students in Egypt preferred the hybrid approach in dental education as distance learning represented a prime challenge to gain adequate clinical dental skills.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-26
Author(s):  
Sushil Subedi ◽  
Bijayata Shrestha

Background: Oral Cancer (OCA) is a common malignancy in South East Asia and the burden of the disease is increasing. OCA is usually preceded by Potentially Malignant Oral Disorder (PMOD). The early detection of these diseases may limit the high mortality and morbidity. The objectives of this study were to assess the awareness of burden, associated risk fac­tors, early detection and prognosis of OCA and OPMD among final year medical and dental students.. Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted among final year Medical and Dental undergraduate students of Chitwan Medical College, Nepal in April 2017 using a pre tested self-administered questionnaires. All the final year students present at their respective classes (Dental= 50 and Medical=75 students) responded to the questionnaires after giving informed consent. Data entered in SPPS 20 software was analyzed using Pearson Chi Square test and Fisher exact test. Results: Dental students had better awareness concerning PMOD. Yet, the dental students did not differ significantly from their medical coun­terpart in most of the responses related to OCA. Surprisingly, more Dental students had misconception that OCA is not preventable and early detec­tion is difficult. Few of both groups were confident in having sufficient knowledge in OCA prevention and detection. Only 18.6% of Medical stu­dents had examined PMOD and few students of both groups had exam­ined OCA. Conclusions: This study revealed the deficient aspect in the knowledge concerning OCA and OPMD among Medical and Dental students indicat­ing the need to emphasize on these aspects of medical education.


2021 ◽  
Vol 59 (240) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarbada Makaju ◽  
Chandra Kala Rai

Introduction: The pandemic of COVID-19 affected every single person in the world. This pandemic also affected the academics of medical and dental colleges of Nepal. In these conditions, the virtual study was used as an emergency measure during the COVID-19 period, with an adaptation to the “new normal” to deliver preclinical medical education. This has brought both challenges and opportunities to medical education. The objective of the study is to find out whether the anatomy virtual classes were helpful among the first and second year medical and dental students of a medical college. Methods: The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 206 first and second-year medical and dental students of a medical college between 1st May 2021-31st May 2021 after getting the ethical clearance from the Institutional Review Committee (reference no. 0504202109). The convenient sampling was done. The data were analyzed with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 20 version. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and percentage for binary data. Results: Out of the total 206 students, 173 (84%) (78.99-89.01 at 95% Confidence Interval) found that virtual anatomy classes were not helpful for the study of the anatomy classes.  Conclusions: From the study, we conclude that more than half of the students found that virtual classes were not helpful for the study of anatomy classes. Students have difficulty in studying dissection, cadaveric, and embryological structures via virtual classes. Physical class is better for studying anatomy than virtual classes for medical and dental students.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 354-358
Author(s):  
Sagar Pokhrel ◽  
Neelam Dahal ◽  
Dhan Kesar Khadka

Background: The outbreak of the deadly disease COVID-19 has shaken the entire world. The pandemic has resulted in a global lockdown affecting all areas of life, including medical education. This has impeded the traditional way of teaching and learning activities and forced educational institutions such as medical universities to shift rapidly to distance and online learning. Aims and Objectives: The aim was to find out the impact of COVID-19 and the perception of undergraduate students of B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS) of learning dermatology through online means. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a self-administered online questionnaire. The inclusion criteria were all MBBS third and fourth years students of BPKIHS willing to participate in the study. Result: A total of 151 participants agreed to complete the online survey questionnaire. The overall attitude toward online education was positive. The majority of students agreed that online learning material should be of high quality for online education (66.2%) and that online learning will bring new opportunities for organizing teaching and learning (62.3%). Zoom and Dudal were the most common online tools used by students. The geographic location, lack of past experience in using online tools, and communication barriers such as a poor Internet connection and frequent electricity cutoffs were identified by students as the main barriers to online education. Conclusion: Although the COVID-19 pandemic culminated in the lockdown of medical universities, it provided opportunities for bringing innovations into effect. Such large-scale studies are missing in developing countries such as Nepal, thus further research is needed to explore these possibilities nationwide.


2021 ◽  
Vol 59 (236) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarbada Makaju ◽  
Sonam Chaudhary ◽  
Chandra Kala Rai

Introduction: The upper and lower lip consists of the numerous amounts of fine grooves. This pattern of grooves will be definite throughout the lifetime. The groove of the lip shows variations and play important role in forensic medicine and crime investigation. The objective of this study is to find out the prevalence of type I lip print in at least one lip quadrant among first- and second- year medical and dental students of a medical college. Methods: The study was conducted on 240 students of a medical college between November 2020- January 2021 after getting the ethical clearance from the Institutional Review Committee (reference no. KMC-IRC 0311202006). The convenient sampling was done. The patterns of the grooves of the lip were studied. The data was analysed with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 20 version. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and percentage for binary data. Results: Out of 240 students, type I lip pattern was seen in at least one quadrant in 190 (79.6%) (73.38-84.94 at 95% CI) students. One hundred and fifty-nine (66.3%) had type I pattern in the right upper quadrant, 160 (66.7%) in left upper quadrant, 181 (75.4%) in right lower quadrant, and 177 (73.8%) in left lower quadrant. Type Ia was maximum found in 115 (47.9%) and type Ib in 66 (27.5%) in lower left quadrant of lip. Conclusions: Our findings showed a higher prevalence of type I lip pattern than those reported by other national studies done among medical students.


2021 ◽  
Vol 59 (243) ◽  
pp. 1146-1149
Author(s):  
Sajala Kafle ◽  
Nisha Jha ◽  
Ravi Shankar Pathyil

Introduction: Self-medication is common among medical students. Medical and dental students can also educate the population about the use of medicines. The aim of the study was to find the mean knowledge score of self-medication among first and second year medical and dental students at a medical college in Nepal. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in a medical college from 1st to 28th February 2021 using a structured online questionnaire after obtaining approval from the Institutional Review Committee (approval number 077/78/32). Convenience sampling method was undertaken. The responses were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 26. Results: Out of 173 students the mean±SD knowledge score was 79.47±6.76. The mean knowledge score of the participants of age group 17-18, 19-20 and 21-22 years were 83.8, 79 and 79.1 respectively. The mean knowledge scores of the male and female participants were 80.2 and 78.6 respectively. Similarly, the knowledge scores of respondents from undergraduate medical and dental backgrounds were 80.1 and 77.7 respectively. Conclusions: Knowledge of self-medication was high among the students. However, educational sessions to further improve and strengthen knowledge can be carried out to improve the knowledge.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 195-199
Author(s):  
Vaseemunnisa Begum ◽  
Neeraj Sadiq ◽  
Ghulam Subhani ◽  
Asma Gulnaaz ◽  
Mohammed Mohsin ◽  
...  

: The Global disease (COVID-19 pandemic) has impacted our lives in various ways. Online teaching is the strange routine for studying platforms to continue with the process of educating students, Online classes have become a key component in the continuity of education.: 1. This study aims to rank the usefulness of online teaching compared to classroom conventional teaching 2. Socioeconomic parameters related to online teaching in a medical college: The study is a cross-sectional study done on medical students. A questionnaire was prepared listing the various ways in which they discern online teaching trying to cope up during the pandemic.: After the institutional Ethics committee clearance, online cross-sectional study was done on the medical students where from the 2 and 3 year. This online survey was done between 10May 2021- 10 June 2021, A total number of 211 students participated out of 250, after completion of 18 months of online classes. A Set of 15 self -designed questionnaire based on 5 point Likert scale was given to the students to rank the effectiveness through online class usefulness levels and satisfaction levels on various parameters. Students were also asked about the demographic factors. The data was analyzed using software SPSS software The study results shows that online classes is less helpful in five parameters and equally helpful in five parameters but was not at all superior to conventional methods, we can come to the interpretation that students think that classroom teaching cannot be replaced by online teaching. We can conclude that online studies can only be a supplement and cannot be an alternate for the established order of learning


Author(s):  
Ahmed Abed Elwahab Nourein ◽  
Rubayyi Faris Shahadah ◽  
Marwan Abdulrahman Alnemer ◽  
Saif Saud Al-Harbi ◽  
Hani T. Fadel ◽  
...  

Background: Communication skills (CS) learning is a core skill in medical and dental education. The comparison of attitudes towards CS between dental and medical students based on the taught curriculum (problem-based learning vs. traditional teaching) in Saudi Arabia awaits investigation. Aims: (1) To assess the attitudes of both undergraduate dental and medical students towards communication skills (CS) learning and (2) to compare the attitudes towards CS between Medical and Dental students in relation to sociodemographic and education-related characteristics. Methods and Materials: A cross-sectional study, using an online survey, invited 260 conveniently sampled Taibah university medical and dental undergraduate students. The survey collected data on sociodemographic characteristics, education-related factors, and CS using Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) that assess positive and negative attitudes (PAS, NAS). Data analysis included descriptive statistics and the Mann–Whitney U test. Results: Of the distributed questionnaire 91% responded (145 dental and 91 medical students). There were, overall, non-significant scores’ differences between medical and dental students on PAS (Medicine Median 51 vs. Dentistry Median 50, p = 0.059) and NAS (Medicine Median 32 vs. Dentistry Median 32, p = 0.596). Older medical students, those at clinical levels and those who reported they need to improve their communication skills and student whose parents were not doctors, tended to score statistically significantly (p = 0.032, 0.017, 0.034, and 0.004, respectively) on PAS compared with dental students; on the other hand, medical students with doctor parents scored significantly high in NAS compared to dental students (p = 0.015). Conclusion: Demographic and education-related characteristics underpinned medical student positive attitude towards CS compared to dental students. Although medical and dental students showed no differences in self-rating their attitudes towards (CS). Different factors influence medical and dental students’ attitudes towards CS learning.


Author(s):  
Nisha Jha ◽  
Neeti Singh ◽  
Omi Bajracharya ◽  
Tejendra Manandhar ◽  
Tejendra Manandhar ◽  
...  

Background. Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) has become a major global problem. There is an urgent need to measure the knowledge of the disease among health science students who can play an active role in pandemic control. The research was conducted to examine COVID-19 knowledge among medical and dental students in a Nepalese medical college, compare the knowledge to other studies in the literature and identify educational needs of students who may be involved in treating COVID-19 patients.  Methods. The cross-sectional study was performed during the third week of June among first to final year medical and dental students. As the country was in lockdown, a structured online questionnaire was used. The responses obtained were entered into IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows and the normality of the data checked using one-sample Kolmogorov Smirnov test. The demographic parameters were tabulated, and total score compared among different subgroups of participants. The frequency of different measures mentioned by respondents were also noted. Results. More than half of the participants were males (59.6%). Nearly half 282 (49.8%) belonged to age group 21-23 years. The majority 415 (73.5%) were undergraduate medical and 150 (26.5%) were undergraduate dental students. The largest number of respondents, 140 (24.9%), were from the second year of study and 344 (60.9%) were from urban areas. The median total score was 20 and the interquartile range 4. The maximum possible score was 29. The scores among students belonging to different years of study were significantly different (p=0.006). Total scores were not significantly different among other subgroups. Conclusions. The knowledge of the participants was good. Deficiencies in knowledge were noted in certain areas and these should be addressed through an educational intervention. One of the challenges is the rapid evolution of our knowledge about this condition, which may require regular refresher sessions. Similar studies can be undertaken in other medical colleges in the country and in nursing and pharmacy colleges.


2021 ◽  
pp. 267-275
Author(s):  
Saimon Shahriar ◽  
Fahima Jannat Koly

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic halted educational institutions all over the world which forced a shift to online classes, a new experience for Bangladeshi students which increased their screen time. Objective: This study aimed at discerning the physiological challenges accompanied by the online education system and the compatibility of Bangladeshi students considering health and socio-demographic factors. Methods: A cross-sectional pilot study was performed based upon an online survey on students (n = 590) during September 1st to 14th of 2020. Results: Interestingly, an inevitable consequence of online education was several physiological problems. It was found that 93.9% of the participants faced some kind of physiological challenges, e.g., headaches, fatigue, eye and ear problems, from online classes. The majority of the participants (57.5%) could not concentrate for one hour or more in online classes. Conclusion: Along with transitioning towards online education, innovative teaching methods would be helpful for the students to adapt to the ‘new normal’.


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