Utility of online clinical teaching: an analysis of feedback from students

Abstract

Covid-19 pandemic has forced a transformation of teaching learning activities (TLA) (1, 2), which shifted to online platforms as the face-to-face teaching halted with campus closure due to enforcement of Movement Control Order. Online Clinical Teaching (OCT), however, is challenging as students are expected to acquire communication and clinical reasoning skills using virtual cases instead of real patients in a hospital/clinical set-up. Various approaches were used at IMU for OCT to help students acquire necessary skills. We carried out a study to determine the utility of OCT by analysing feedback from students. Methods:A questionnaire consisting of 6 items (Q1-Q6) was distributed online as the study tool from December 2020 till January 2021. Each item was given a score of 1 (strongly disagree); 2 (disagree); 3 (agree) or 4 (strongly agree). Participants were students from Sem 6-10. Results:A total of 118 students participated in this survey. Assuming that a mean score of at least 2.5 indicates agreement with the statement, it was observed that students do not agree that OCT provided the necessary knowledge and skills (Q3) and that the OCT should continue post-COVID to complement face-to-face teaching (Q6).Students' scoring was significantly lower for usefulness of OCT as a tool to acquire knowledge and skills (Q3) compared to its use as an alternative to face-to-face (Q1), facilitator's ability to conduct the session in an organized manner (Q2), obtain feedback (Q4) and engage with peers and facilitators (Q5) (p<0.01). Although, students agreed with Q1, Q2, Q4 and Q5, they largely did not agree that OCT should continue post-Covid to complement face-to-face teaching (Q6) (p<0.01). Conclusions:There is scope for improvement to enhance student satisfaction with OCT, to find new methods to enhance its utility to acquire knowledge and skills so that students can foresee its utility post-Covid.