Evaluation of Virtual Classes Teaching among first-year MBBS students during COVID-19 era in GMC Jammu

Background: The Covid-19 era has caused the shifting of medical teaching into an Online podium. This has provided uswith an excellent opportunity to recognize MBBS- students’ preferences of these Online classes which otherwise did notform a significant part of the traditional medical teaching. We have undertaken online classes for theory & practical for thefirst time in our medical college at GMC Jammu. So the current study was conducted to assess & analyze the preferenceof first-year MBBS students between online classes & traditional classroom teaching.Objectives: To evaluate the predilection/inclination of first-year MBBS students between online classes and traditionalclassroom teaching.Materials & Methods: An institution-based descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 180 MBBS studentsof 2020-21 batch at the Department of Physiology in GMC Jammu, after receiving Institutional ethics committee (IEC)clearance who have attended online classes for a minimum of 1 hour per day or 6 hours per week for 1-month durationusing zoom or other video-based learning platforms. A pre-structured questionnaire-based feedback study was conductedafter obtaining written consent from the first-year MBBS students. We designed a total of 24 questions related to theirtheory & practical classes, for assessing their preference for Online classes in comparison to traditional classroom teachingwith multiple-choice options.Results: In our study, we found that overall, 61.11% of MBBS students prefer traditional classroom teaching over Onlineclasses and 60% of students prefer traditional teaching methods over online learning for practical classes. However, 50% ofstudents reported that accessibility to stable internet was causing difficulty in following Online classes. Moreover, 53.89%of students reported that they get distracted at home during Online classes. Further, 66.11% of students mentioned a lackof personal interaction & lonely experience on the Online platform.Conclusion: In our study, we found that medical students prefer the traditional teaching method to the Online platformfor learning as well as examination. For better understanding and learning, the first phase of MBBS students prefersthat traditional classroom teaching should be followed by Online classes that can be easily accessed by students at theirconvenient time. In this study, the majority of medical students reported limited access to stable internet, distractions &disturbances in the domestic environment, & lack of personal interaction as the barriers to Online learning.