Since March 2020, the pandemic has disrupted schedules and medical schools have been forced to adapt. The 2021 counselling for UG MBBS courses is finally being held in 2022, and students will begin their learning with a shorter academic calendar. Major curriculum adjustments have impacted theoretical and practical training, with potential consequences on mental health and professional identity. Many have reported decrease in concentration and motivation due to the forced distance learning and not-so-calm study environment.
Despite having grown up in an online world, many students felt that virtual workshops and group sessions were not efficient replacements for face-to-face interactions. This also raises concerns about potential gaps in the knowledge gained and the potential consequences when they practise.
The pandemic also led to unprecedented public attention on the medical profession, the strenuous working conditions and the frontline role taken on by healthcare workers. This has changed the student’s perception of their developing professional identity, especially in the context of their studies.
The new CBME curriculum has brought several welcome innovations in pedagogy and assessments. But the forced shift to the online mode pushed most of these to the back burner. In addition to dealing with unfamiliar teaching practices, the teachers faced multiple challenges and students had to learn new competencies with minimum handholding and mentoring during a time of information overload.
The healthcare education community focuses on certain values and attitudes in medicine, such as inter-professional collaboration and good communication skills to interact effectively with patients. Learner engagement is not fixed throughout the learning experience but changes due to the learner and the environment. Healthcare education, particularly online resources, needs to focus on the three dimensions of learner engagement: affective, cognitive, and situational.
Digital learning platforms provide just enough direction for students to navigate through their learning journey and rely on the student’s self-regulation and self-motivation. While content is visually appealing, lectures and videos should simulate a classroom experience and have some degree of teacher presence. In addition, there is a need to apply proven strategies to engage students and explore ways in which online resources can make teaching more effective and student learning more durable.
Learning must be personalised to suit fast, slow, superficial, deep, and strategic learners, and those who have well-defined learning needs. Therefore, content must such that it can be consumed by visual, auditory, or kinaesthetic learners and include components for every kind of learner. Inclusion of course content that motivates learners to explore beyond the boundaries of the curriculum is another way to engage students.
Digital content can also be used in a blended learning setting to support activities in the classroom by using online student discussion forums, thus connecting students and encouraging group learning. Problems and projects can be shared with students online, thus widening the scope of involvement and making the curriculum truly student-centric.
The writer is the Academic Advisor, Manipal MedAce
