Heterogeneity in strategies to maintain the teaching activities during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the training of medical students was severely disrupted. Government authorities imposed a second national lockdown, which lasted from December 2020 to May 2021, forcing medical schools to adapt their teaching strategies. Several surveys have assessed students’ perspectives, but there is limited data available to objectively assess and compare different strategies between medical faculties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the lecturer-based perspective to assess the impact on the theoretical and practical education of medical students before and during the second lockdown. Methods We developed a questionnaire focusing on theoretical and practical training during pandemic before and during the second lockdown. The questionnaire was sent by personal invitation in January 2021 to all responsible lecturers of gastroenterology and hepatology departments at university hospitals in Germany. Results The complete response rate was obtained from 52.5% (21/40) teaching centres representative of all regions in Germany. While the majority of respondents (62%) reported a limited impact of the lockdown on theoretical training, 90.5% reported a significant impact on practical training during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic response. Several centres adapted virtual or hybrid education early during the pandemic, bedside teaching was down to 38.1% (8/21), particularly for students in the early phase of education, suggesting a substantial long-term impact on students' skills. Conclusion Our questionnaire-based data provide one of the first systematic evaluation of faculty-based assessments of the potential impact of the pandemic during lockdown on medical education. We observed considerable heterogeneity in strategies for maintaining teaching activities during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Germany.