School of Medicine, European University Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.
Department of Health Sciences, European University Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.
Anat Sci Educ. 2022 Jan;15(1):27-41. doi: 10.1002/ase.2159.
The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted medical education, shifting it towards emergency remote delivery. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the impact of the pandemic on preclinical medical education and identify predictors of the virtual learning experience and perceived stress. An anonymous survey was delivered electronically to the students of the authors' medical school that attended either histology or pathology. This survey contained two scales, the virtual learning experience (VLE) and the perceived stress scale-10 (PSS-10). A total of 173/255 (68%) responded, showing a positive perception towards the remote delivery of both courses. An exploratory factor analysis was performed on the VLE scale items and four new dimensions were formed: "course quality and learning outcomes", "student motivation", virtual against F2F learning", and "virtual laboratory sessions". The following significant predictors of enhanced VLE, in at least one dimension, were identified: female gender, pathology course, final examination grade >80%, lower perceived stress levels, studying in home country, and holding of another degree before medical school. In addition, the following predictors were significantly associated with higher levels of student perceived stress: female gender, pathology course, studying away from home, and suboptimal internet connection. Notably, the quality of internet connection was significantly associated with the students' final examination performance. Concerning the best mode for future delivery of both courses, most students proposed a blended, rather than an entirely on-campus or online approach. In conclusion, despite its problems, a high-quality remote preclinical medical education was possible in the authors' school and offered tremendous opportunities for future improvement.
新冠疫情打乱了医学教育的步伐，使其转向紧急远程教学。本横断面研究旨在评估疫情对基础医学教育的影响，并确定虚拟学习体验和感知压力的预测因素。作者所在医学院的学生以电子方式匿名填写了一份包含组织学或病理学课程的调查问卷，该问卷包含两个量表，即虚拟学习体验（VLE）量表和感知压力量表-10（PSS-10）。共有 173/255（68%）名学生回复，他们对两门课程的远程教学持积极态度。对 VLE 量表项目进行了探索性因素分析，形成了四个新维度：“课程质量和学习成果”、“学生动机”、“虚拟与面对面学习”和“虚拟实验室课程”。以下因素至少在一个维度上显著预测了 VLE 的增强：女性、病理学课程、期末考试成绩>80%、较低的感知压力水平、在本国学习、以及在医学院之前持有另一学位。此外，以下因素与学生感知压力水平升高显著相关：女性、病理学课程、不在家乡学习以及网络连接不佳。值得注意的是，网络连接质量与学生期末考试成绩显著相关。关于未来这两门课程的最佳教学模式，大多数学生提出了混合式教学，而不是完全的校内或在线教学模式。总之，尽管存在一些问题，但在作者所在的学校，高质量的远程基础医学教育是可行的，并为未来的改进提供了巨大的机会。
