Objective: To evaluate the perception of medical students at a medical college in Islamabad, regarding the impact of online teaching due to the Corona virus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Methodology: This cohort online survey was conducted after developing a comprehensive online questionnaire on ‘Google forms’© by a three member faculty team in March 2022. All the students of Fazaia Medical College, first-year through the fifth year, were invited to join a class and the questionnaire was posted in it. There was no exclusion criteria. The aim was to achieve maximum participation and get an in-depth response. The data were analyzed using SPSS 21.
Results: Almost 70% of the students responded to the online survey. Microsoft PowerPoint® presentation accompanied by an online lecture was voted as the most effective method of teaching. Despite being the computer generation, majority (80%) of the students were in favor of a formal classroom setting.
Conclusion: There is no denying that online teaching is the way forward and is here to stay. The faculty, as well as the students are adapting to it however the point to remember is that online teaching should augment and not replace the classic classroom setting, especially in developing countries with mundane limitations like electricity breakdown and signal coverage constraints.
Key words: Online learning, undergraduate medical education (UME), Covid -19, online teaching.
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