Medical students in Russia evaluate the training during the COVID-19 pandemic: a student survey

Abstract

Background The aim of the study was to obtain feedback from medical students in Russia regarding their e-learning experience during COVID-19 Pandemic. Methods Thirteen thousand forty students from 46 Medical Schools in Russia completed an original evaluation form validated by 6 experts. Criterion and construct validity were determined in a pilot study (n = 46). The study design was based on the use of Google Forms. Participants used the Visual Analog Scale from 1 to 10 to assess the level of knowledge acquired. Results 95.31% of medical schools in Russia switched to e-learning during the Pandemic. 39.8% of the students stated that the time to prepare for the class has doubled. For 19.9% of them, it increased by one third, while 26.6% did not report any changes. 38,4% of the participants are satisfied with particular elements of e-learning, 27.5% like such a format, 22.9% do not like it, and 11.2% could not answer the question. The average scores for the knowledge assessment were 5.9 for the humanities, 6.1 for fundamental science, and 6.0 for clinical training. Conclusions The most important findings are increased self-instruction time, insufficient knowledge gained and territorial and socio-economic inequalities within the country. Meanwhile, most students favor distance learning or its particular elements. Consequently, medical education leaders in Russia should consider the implementation of blended training in medicine taking into account specific regional factors, ensuring its effectiveness at all stages.

Exploration of Mindful Learning Systems in Medical Education in the Covid-19 Pandemic Era

“…With the COVID-19 pandemic, it is also necessary to create new learning methods to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic (Hussain et al, 2021). The medical education system faces the urgent problem of developing appropriate clinical skills for future doctors (Mukharyamova et al, 2021). Evaluation of student perceptions regarding the benefits and effectiveness of online teaching strategies needs to be carried out (Rodrigues et al, 2022).…”

Calling for Unity, Solidarity, Continuity, and Access-Oriented Action in Times of War

“…Increasingly, we have the benefit of online educational platforms [ 29 ], and the frontiers of tertiary education ecologies were already shifting before this new war. Tapping into the accelerating “platformization” of academia and capitalizing on the COVID-19 teaching and learning experience in the region [ 30 – 32 ] offers universities fresh opportunities to upgrade their competitive edge, and not solely during pandemics and wars [ 33 ]. A network of collaborating higher educational institutions to support displaced students and scholars could help students to continue their coursework and teachers to continue teaching and supervising their students even if they are not all physically in the same place.…”