Virtual Classes in Medical Education During COVID-19: Student Perspectives from a Teaching Tertiary Care Institute in North India

The current Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way of teaching in medical institutes. Now online classes are common method of teaching by using virtual platforms like Zoom, google classrooms, google meet, etc. We conducted this study to know the experience of students about online classes. This is an observational, questionnaire-based study conducted in PGIMS Rohtak for the duration of 2 weeks. Study subjects were first year MBBS, BDS and Nursing students of PGIMS Rohtak. Total 25 questions were asked and responses were recorded in the form of yes or no. The questionnaire was prepared as google form and sent to students as electronic format on Facebook/WhatsApp of different streams for voluntarily participation. On the basis of feedback received from students it was observed that classroom classes are better than virtual classes. Approximately 60% of the students face difficulty with technology needed to attend online classes and 30% of the students didn't have required gadgets and internet connection for virtual classes. Around 60% of the students find it difficult to concentrate and staying on tract during online teaching thus less attentive and 15% of the students face fatigue and pain in eyes. Classroom teaching is more effective in terms of providing more understanding, more convenient to attend and give more opportunity to ask queries.