Online Medical Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experience and Perception of Second-Year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) Students in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Assam, India.

Introduction  The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic-imposed changes in educational practices worldwide. It forced medical institutions to adapt to an online teaching mode, which has advantages and disadvantages. The present study aims to investigate the perceptions of medical students regarding online learning during COVID-19. Purpose This study assesses whether online teaching methods are feasible, suitable, preferred, and effective compared to traditional in-class teaching for Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) students. Methodology It is a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted on 120 second-year MBBS students of Silchar Medical College, Silchar, India. Using Google Forms, a closed-ended pre-formed questionnaire was distributed to the students to get feedback on the advantages and challenges of online learning. The respondents were prompted to respond to the questions on a Likert scale ranging from 1 to 5. The data were analyzed using Excel 16 (Microsoft® Corp., Redmond, WA). Results The majority of the participants positively supported the feasibility, suitability, utility, and effectiveness of online learning. The most preferred online web conferencing platform for e-learning in the survey was Google Classroom. Despite the advantages, online medical education was limited by network-related issues and a lack of socializing with peers. Moreover, looking forward, about 90% of the students preferred online or a combination of online and classroom teaching. Conclusion The study highlights the positive attitude toward online education among second-year MBBS Students in a tertiary care hospital in Assam. It provides valuable insights into the challenges faced in e-learning in medical education, forming the groundwork for devising future education strategies.