Medical and Dental Students’ Perception of Online Learning across Pakistan in the COVID Pandemic Era: A Review Article

Abstract

The widespread lockdowns due to the COVID pandemic led to an abrupt shift in the medical education sector from a conventional to an online education system. The aim of this study was to determine the perception of medical and dental students regarding the acceptance of e-learning in Pakistan. A thorough literature search was conducted on PubMed and Google Scholar; six articles were included in this review. Perceptions of students regarding online medical learning were compiled. These perceptions were related to both non-clinical subjects as well as the attainment of clinical skills through online education. This review also highlights online educational challenges such as the level of student-teacher interaction, internet connectivity issues, and perception of fairness in online assessments. Online learning during COVID pandemic has not been a successful mode of learning for undergraduate medical and dental students across Pakistan. This specifically stands true for the learning of clinical and laboratory skills.