Background: Coronavirus (COVID19) appears to be an inflection point that is forcing a disruption in medical education. Objective: The study aims to explore how medical schools in Egypt responded to COVID-19 pandemic regarding teaching and learning/assessment for undergraduate students. Design: A mixed method exploratory 2-phase study was conducted. Data was collected through a questionnaire and focus groups. Results: The responses of the participants were categorized according to main themes; University preparedness, Role of faculty in the transition, Role of ME units/Departments/National/Regional bodies in the transition, Role of Egyptian Knowledge Bank, New teaching methods/strategies, New assessment methods/strategies and Projection into the future. The staff level of preparedness for that unexpected shift was evaluated as optimum to high and a good leadership support was reported by 70% of them. They reported conflicting views about the proper role of medical education units but reinforced the idea of Egyptian Knowledge Bank’s crucial role in this transition. Additionally, 64.1% of the participants identified a clinical skills teaching challenge and 76.3% of them reported absence of alternative methods for summative assessment. Finally, there is a communication problem with the students that leads to their detachment. Conclusions: Individuals moved faster than bodies and relied on support existing outside the universities when catastrophe happened. Many recommendations emerged including the need to integrate online learning into the curriculum at favorable percentages.

As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic health professions education, the world is living a major disruptive change and technology is being used abruptly to maintain teaching and learning. Face to face sessions have been replaced by virtual online lectures, the same occurred to small group tutorials, which have been replaced by interactive webinars. It is of paramount importance to acknowledge the role of technology and the presence of various applications and programs which facilitate this paradigm shift from face to face to virtual learning. The main challenges which face medical and other health colleges are the needs to train faculty members to heavily use technology in education and converting their materials to suite various online platforms. In addition, there is a great need to enhance students engagement in online learning to overcome the imposed physical barriers, which is not the case in face to face learning. The aim of this opinion piece is to draw light on the new needs for faculty development associated with digital transformation and the need for enhancing students engagement on a virtual platform.

BackgroundCOVID-19 pandemic forced educational institutions to adopt online methods which were inevitable to keep continuity of education across all academia after suspension of traditional educational systems. The aim of this study was to explore the experience of faculty and students of online and face-to-face learning, and their preference of the mode of learning after the pandemic.MethodsThis is a mixed-method study. Quantitative data was collected through a survey from 194 medical students and 33 faculty members, while qualitative data was collected through two focus group discussions with 9 students and another two with 13 faculty members. Quantitative variables were presented as means and standard deviations. Paired samples t-test and Chi-square test were used. Thematic analysis of qualitative data was used to code, interpret, and make sense of data.ResultsMean scores of responses of faculty members and students were higher for face-to-face and blended learning compared to online learning in all survey statements with statistically significant differences. More than half of the students (53.1%) preferred the face-to-face mode of learning, while most of the faculty members (60.6%) preferred the blended mode of learning. Qualitative analysis identified five themes, namely: “Transforming the way theoretical teaching sessions are given,” “Face-to-face teaching at campus cannot be replaced for some types of education,” “Interaction in online sessions is limited,” “Problems and challenges of online examinations,” and “Technical issues and challenges of online education.” It revealed suggestions that at least 30% of the curriculum could be taught online post-COVID-19. Some aspects of clinically oriented teaching including history taking and case discussions can also be delivered online in the future. Faculty members and students reported that dealing with online education was not difficult, although the transition was not smooth.ConclusionMedical students and faculty members were in favor of face-to-face and blended modes of learning. However, they perceived online mode of learning as an acceptable adaptation in theoretical teaching and in some clinically oriented teaching including history taking and clinical case discussions. Although face-to-face education in medicine is irreplaceable, the blended mode of learning remains an acceptable and practical solution for the post-COVID era.

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