Advances in Medical Education and Practice (Aug 2022)
Adaptations of Clinical Teaching During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Perspectives of Medical Students and Faculty Members
Abstract
Adla Bakri Hassan,1 Amgad El-Agroudy,1 Mohamed Hany Shehata,2,3 Maryam Abdulla Almoawda,4 Hani Salem Atwa5,6 1Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Arabian Gulf University, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain; 2Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Arabian Gulf University, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain; 3Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt; 4Medical Intern, Salmaniya Medical Complex, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain; 5Department of Medical Education, College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Arabian Gulf University, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain; 6Medical Education Department, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, EgyptCorrespondence: Hani Salem Atwa, Department of Medical Education, College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Arabian Gulf University, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain, Tel +973 35635809, Email [email protected]; [email protected]: The COVID-19 pandemic had serious implications on medical schools’ programs that necessitated lots of adaptations of teaching, learning, and assessment to guarantee continuity of education in medical schools. Our study aimed to evaluate perspectives of clerkship students and faculty members regarding clinical teaching adaptations implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional, survey-based study was conducted and targeted 5th and 6th year clerkship students and full- and part-time clinical faculty. The survey explored (1) perception of the degree of contribution of implemented adaptations to student achievement of expected clinical competencies, (2) degree of confidence regarding students’ achievement of expected clinical competencies through such adaptations, and (3) perception of the effect of implemented educational adaptations on students’ learning. Descriptive statistics were used, and statistical significance level was set at p < 0.05.Results: The survey exhibited high internal consistency. Both students and faculty members felt that most of the adaptations had moderate to high contribution to student achievement of expected clinical competencies. On a 5-point scale, the highest score was given by faculty members to “Interpretation of investigations” (3.93± 0.84) while the lowest scores were given by faculty members (3.10± 1.21) and students (2.57± 1.36) to “Performing clinical procedures”. Students and faculty members agreed that the adaptations had positive effect on students’ learning except for the statement “Students were able to easily monitor their academic progress” where students gave less scores than faculty members, with a statistically significance difference (p=0.029).Conclusion: Students and faculty members had similar perspectives regarding the implemented adaptations and their impact and contribution to student learning and achievement of the basic clinical competencies. Both of them agreed on the need for and importance of the implemented adaptations. Our findings recommend such adaptations during the times of crises, which can be conducted through integrating online teaching with face-to-face teaching.Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, educational adaptations, medical clerkship
