Objective: During COVID-19 pandemic, the institutions in Pakistan have started online learning. This study explores the perception of teachers and students regarding its advantages, limitations and recommendations.Methods: This qualitative case study was conducted from March to April 2020. Using maximum variation sampling, 12 faculty members and 12 students from University College of Medicine and University College of Dentistry, Lahore were invited to participate. Four focus group interviews, two each with the faculty and students of medicine and dentistry were carried out. Data were transcribed verbatim and thematically analyzed using Atlas Ti.Results: The advantages included remote learning, comfort, accessibility, while the limitations involved inefficiency and difficulty in maintaining academic integrity. The recommendations were to train faculty on using online modalities and developing lesson plan with reduced cognitive load and increased interactivities.Conclusion: The current study supports the use of online learning in medical and dental institutes, considering its various advantages. Online learning modalities encourage student-centered learning and they are easily manageable during this lockdown situation. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.COVID19-S4.2785 How to cite this:Mukhtar K, Javed K, Arooj M, Sethi A. Advantages, Limitations and Recommendations for online learning during COVID-19 pandemic era. 2020;36(COVID19-S4):COVID19-S27-S31. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.COVID19-S4.2785 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Objectives: MCQ’s and SEQ’s are the most widely used assessment tool in dental colleges across Pakistan. This study explores the impact of assessment tool: MCQ’s and SEQ’s on learning approach of dental students and also identifies correlation between these assessment tools and deep & surface learning approaches in integrated and discipline based curriculum. Methods: A quantitative co-relational study was conducted in 2018 on 2nd and 4th year dental students. A pre-validated “Revised Study Process Questionnaire” was used. Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient and Wilcoxon signed ranks test were applied to determine the relationship between learning approaches and assessment tools. Internal consistency was calculated by Cronbach’s alpha. Results: Ninety six students out of one hundred and fifty completed the questionnaire. Correlation test showed that surface approach correlates significantly with MCQ’s (0.73) while no co-relation exists with SEQ’s (-0.14) in our study. Deep approach has a strong and significant correlation with SEQ’s (0.80) as compared to MCQ’s (0.056). Conclusion: Assessment tool has an impact on learning approaches used by the students. It was concluded that students used to prefer deep learning approach while preparing for SEQ’s as they were designed at higher cognitive level, whereas, they preferred surface approach while preparing for MCQ’s as they were developed at low cognitive order. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.2.3475 How to cite this:Arooj M, Mukhtar K, Khan RA, Azhar T. Assessing the educational impact of cognitive level of MCQ and SEQ on learning approaches of dental students. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(2):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.2.3475 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

This study aimed at exploring the perceptions of students and teachers regarding the viability of the online problem-based learning (PBL) approach. The study also aimed to report the perceived merits and demerits of online PBL and offer suggestions to improve it further. To achieve these objectives, a qualitative exploratory study was conducted at the College of Medicine, The University of Lahore from July 2020 to November 2020. Employing purposive sampling, 12 students and 11 teachers were recruited, with experience in both online and face-to-face PBL. The perceived merits and demerits of online PBL were inquired in focus group discussions. Moreover, suggestions to improve the online PBL environment were elicited from both stakeholders. The data was recorded, and then inductively coded and thematically analysed using Atlis.ti software. Students displayed active participation, improved learning and self-regulation during online PBL. The participants valued online PBL as a resourceful, convenient and flexible learning strategy. Some demerits of online PBL were also reported, including student passivity, low motivation and poor concentration, which were mainly attributed to the lack of physical presence. Suggestions to improve the online PBL environment included virtual use of simulation patients and infographics, faculty development, student orientation and technical support. We conclude that online PBL can be used as an effective strategic alternative to face-to-face modality. However, certain challenges exist in online PBL that can jeopardise students’ learning processes. Efforts need to be made to fully capture the essence of the online PBL environment.

Objective: To assess the perceived stress levels amongst faculty and students of medicine, dentistry and allied health sciences during COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This multi-institutional descriptive study was conducted from April to June 2020. All the students and faculty from three institutes namely University College of Medicine, University College of Dentistry and Institute of Allied Health Sciences were invited to participate. Data were collected using a pre-validated Perceived Stress Scale (PSS -10). Descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated using SPSS v.21. Results: 1199 responses were obtained. Students from University College of Medicine reported higher score on the perceived stress scale (23.02+11.85) than those from University College of Dentistry (21.87+10.86) and Institute of Allied Health Sciences (21.95+11.32). The students and the faculty experienced stress ‘sometimes to fairly often’ during this pandemic. Females experienced more stress than males and there were no significant differences among students and faculty of various age groups. Conclusion: During COVID-19 pandemic, the students and the faculty from medicine, dentistry and allied health sciences institutes are moderately stressed. The medical students are more affected than the allied health students and the faculty in general. Institutions should promote resilience and mental well-being and provide for flexible work schedules.

Introduction: While most of the institution in our country follow the Flexnerian model of medical education, only a handful of medical colleges have embraced the integrated medical curriculum. Literature on impact of integration on the preclinical disciplines is sparse. This study aims to elucidate the impact of integration on the preclinical disciplines, their content, teaching, learning, and assessment. Methods: This qualitative exploratory study was conducted at the University College of Medicine and Dentistry from July to September 2020. Twenty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with the faculty members from pre-clinical disciplines (Physiology, Anatomy, Biochemistry, Pharmacology, Pathology, Forensic Medicine & Community Medicine). The data was recorded, transcribed, coded and thematic analysis was done by using Atlas Ti version 7. Results: The thematic analysis of the transcripts resulted in twenty subthemes, from which five themes emerged. The study revealed that the faculty of preclinical disciplines perceived that departmental identity has been compromised since the switch to integrated medical curriculum. But, the relationships, both intradepartmental and interdepartmental of preclinical disciplines have improved significantly. Moreover, the number and depth of topics has also been affected. But the students learning approach was of major concern for the respondents. The student’s performance in the assessments was affected due to their learning approaches. Even though the number of assessments were deemed adequate, the depth of assessments had been negatively affected as a result of integrated assessments. Conclusion: Integrated curriculum has profound impact on pre-clinical disciplines. Any institution that wishes to introduce a modular integrated curriculum should take into account the findings reported in this study. Keywords: preclinical disciplines, organ system-based curriculum, impact of integration, faculty perspective, exploratory study