Covid-19 impact on medical students teaching & learning in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objectives: The main objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of Covid-19 on medical education in Saudi Arabia and identify the challenges faced by them. The study also provides the recommendations on basis of observations and research analyses to make the medical education system better.
Methods: A qualitative study was performed using virtual interview with seven open-ended questions.The study has chosen to collect responses from 10 interview participants that are students of the King Saud University, Ibn Sina National College for Medical Studies, and Alfaisal University College of Medicine.
Results: The findings have shown that COVID 19 has changed the learning environment and medical education and the classes are taken online. Students are not satisfied by virtual education, it can be concluded that the major challenges that medical student’s education have faced are a lack of practical education that enhances health practitioner skills, a lack of student-teacher interaction, and network problems that disrupt live sessions. Furthermore, it can be concluded that the mental health of students in Saudi Arabian medical universities has been negatively impacted as a result of this educational environment shift, as stress and anxiety levels among studied participants was high because they are unable to grasp deep medical concepts from online lectures.
Conclusion: The research provides a deep analysis of various challenges faced by medical students in acquiring medical education in Saudi universities during the pandemic. After illustrating the challenges, the study provides quality recommendations to improve the learning environment in the days of COVID to fulfil the research objectives.