TY - JOUR
T1 - How COVID-19 kick-started online learning in medical education-The DigiMed study
AU - Stoehr, Fabian
AU - Müller, Lukas
AU - Brady, Adrian
AU - Trilla, Antoni
AU - Mähringer-Kunz, Aline
AU - Hahn, Felix
AU - Düber, Christoph
AU - Becker, Nicole
AU - Wörns, Marcus Alexander
AU - Chapiro, Julius
AU - Hinrichs, Jan Bernd
AU - Akata, Deniz
AU - Ellmann, Stephan
AU - Huisman, Merel
AU - Koff, Dav
AU - Brinkmann, Sebastian
AU - Bamberg, Fabian
AU - Zimmermann, Oscar
AU - Traikova, Nikoleta I.
AU - Marquardt, Jens U.
AU - Chang, D. H.
AU - Rengier, Fabian
AU - Auer, Timo A.
AU - Emrich, Tilman
AU - Muehler, Felix
AU - Schmidberger, Heinz
AU - Baeßler, Bettina
AU - dos Santos, Daniel Pinto
AU - Kloeckner, Roman
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Stoehr et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2021/9
Y1 - 2021/9
N2 - Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to far-reaching restrictions of social and professional life, affecting societies all over the world. To contain the virus, medical schools had to restructure their curriculum by switching to online learning. However, only few medical schools had implemented such novel learning concepts. We aimed to evaluate students' attitudes to online learning to provide a broad scientific basis to guide future development of medical education. Methods Overall, 3286 medical students from 12 different countries participated in this cross-sectional, web-based study investigating various aspects of online learning in medical education. On a 7-point Likert scale, participants rated the online learning situation during the pandemic at their medical schools, technical and social aspects, and the current and future role of online learning in medical education. Results The majority of medical schools managed the rapid switch to online learning (78%) and most students were satisfied with the quantity (67%) and quality (62%) of the courses. Online learning provided greater flexibility (84%) and led to unchanged or even higher attendance of courses (70%). Possible downsides included motivational problems (42%), insufficient possibilities for interaction with fellow students (67%) and thus the risk of social isolation (64%). The vast majority felt comfortable using the software solutions (80%). Most were convinced that medical education lags behind current capabilities regarding online learning (78%) and estimated the proportion of online learning before the pandemic at only 14%. In order to improve the current curriculum, they wish for a more balanced ratio with at least 40% of online teaching compared to on-site teaching. Conclusion This study demonstrates the positive attitude of medical students towards online learning. Furthermore, it reveals a considerable discrepancy between what students demand and what the curriculum offers. Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic might be the long-awaited catalyst for a new "online era"in medical education.
AB - Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to far-reaching restrictions of social and professional life, affecting societies all over the world. To contain the virus, medical schools had to restructure their curriculum by switching to online learning. However, only few medical schools had implemented such novel learning concepts. We aimed to evaluate students' attitudes to online learning to provide a broad scientific basis to guide future development of medical education. Methods Overall, 3286 medical students from 12 different countries participated in this cross-sectional, web-based study investigating various aspects of online learning in medical education. On a 7-point Likert scale, participants rated the online learning situation during the pandemic at their medical schools, technical and social aspects, and the current and future role of online learning in medical education. Results The majority of medical schools managed the rapid switch to online learning (78%) and most students were satisfied with the quantity (67%) and quality (62%) of the courses. Online learning provided greater flexibility (84%) and led to unchanged or even higher attendance of courses (70%). Possible downsides included motivational problems (42%), insufficient possibilities for interaction with fellow students (67%) and thus the risk of social isolation (64%). The vast majority felt comfortable using the software solutions (80%). Most were convinced that medical education lags behind current capabilities regarding online learning (78%) and estimated the proportion of online learning before the pandemic at only 14%. In order to improve the current curriculum, they wish for a more balanced ratio with at least 40% of online teaching compared to on-site teaching. Conclusion This study demonstrates the positive attitude of medical students towards online learning. Furthermore, it reveals a considerable discrepancy between what students demand and what the curriculum offers. Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic might be the long-awaited catalyst for a new "online era"in medical education.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85115781631&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0257394
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0257394
M3 - Journal articles
C2 - 34547031
AN - SCOPUS:85115781631
VL - 16
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 9 September
M1 - e0257394
ER -
