The undergraduate experience of the transition of the obstetrics and gynaecology programme to blended learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background: The Covid 19 pandemic radically changed our lives worldwide in 2020. Control of the pandemic required public health interventions which included social distancing and the minimising social gatherings. The implementation of these measures resulted in major changes in the delivery of healthcare education.Aim: This observational study reports on the undergraduate experience of the transition of the obstetrics and gynaecology programme from a traditional face-to-face approach to a blended learning programme (BLP) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: Changes to the undergraduate Obstetrics and Gynaecology programme in response to the pandemic are described. These changes were implemented with no additional funding or resources. On completion of the module, students voluntarily completed an anonymous survey on their experience of the BLP.Results: Of the 80 students who completed the module, 81% responded. Overall satisfaction with the module was high with median scores for all online and clinical components of the module ranging from 8 - 10. The students expressed high levels of satisfaction with the support they received from their teachers, hospital staff and patients. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this paper is the first to describe the transition of the entire undergraduate module in Obstetrics and Gynaecology to a BLP in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The overall satisfaction scores submitted anonymously were high. Whether this will be maintained post pandemic remains unknown but the positive response to the BLP provides direction as to what elements of the revised programme may be worth developing further in the future.

A literature review and proposed framework for a core curriculum in obstetrics and gynecology for medical students globally

“…Ob/Gyn clerkship durations ranged from 4 weeks 40 to 11 weeks 18 and were block rather than longitudinal placements. Publications also described teaching delivered during Ob/Gyn clerkships, within hospitals as opposed to primary care, general practitioner, or family medicine practices.…”

“…The recommendations identified in our study could assist medical school course leaders in Ob/Gyn to plan and bench mark their curricula. The overarching themes included teaching on antenatal care, with the recent COVID-19 pandemic and more online teaching 5,40 ;…”

“…However, fitting all the recommendations into undergraduate/medical student clerkships in Ob/Gyn that range from 4 to 32 weeks risks intrinsic cognitive overload. This is more challenging, with the recent COVID‐19 pandemic and more online teaching 5,40 ; an explosion in available information and reduced opportunities for in‐person teaching to undertake practical skills in Ob/Gyn. One solution might be the integration of clinical teaching of Ob/Gyn with other disciplines like pediatrics; however, not all attempts have been successful 14 .…”

Psychological well-being, stressors, coping strategies and support of undergraduate healthcare students amid COVID-19

“…In line with the findings in this study, multiple authors have reported on the positive and negative experiences with online and blended learning since the COVID-19 pandemic (Connolly & Abdalla 2022 :1; Gordon et al 2020 :1; Rafi et al 2022 :1; Saber et al 2022 :1). This has resulted in the publication of, among others, guidelines for developing blended curricula in medical education (Rafi et al 2022 :1), best practice examples of moving healthcare education from traditional face-to-face teaching to blended learning (Tuthill, et al 2022 :1–11), and the dissemination of research on the challenges and barriers of blended learning in healthcare education (Saber, et al 2022 :8). From the university where this study was conducted, limited documentation on online and blended learning has been published, even though several blended learning practices have continued beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.…”