Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Medical Students at the University of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Background This study aims to identify the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic impact on the academic, financial, psychological, and hygienic aspects of medical students at the University of Jeddah. Methodology Three hundred fifty medical students from the University of Jeddah were sent an online questionnaire using a simple consecutive type of sampling for this cross-sectional study. Students from the preclinical and clinical years were included. The survey consisted of 39 items: four questions were for the demographic domain, 14 items were for the academic domain, another 14 were for hygienic, psychological, and financial aspects, and seven items assessed the effect on elective. A P-value of less than 0.05 was regarded as significant during the statistical analysis, which was conducted using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Results There were 333 responses, 174 (52.3%) of them were males. The commonest age group was 21-23 years (n=237, 71.2%). Most of the participants were living in Jeddah (n=307, 92.2%). The majority (54%, n=180) agreed or strongly agreed that “Fluctuations in lecture timing is one of the downsides of online teaching” and “The hands-on experience has suffered greatly” and 42% (n=140) strongly agreed on "Technical issues like poor WiFi connection and lack of computer or mobile devices make online teaching difficult”. One hundred five (31.5%) of the participants had an elective during the pandemic, of which 41 (39%) did not have it in training centers. In terms of the mental aspect, 154 (46.2%) students were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and 111 (72.1% of them) developed anxiety or depression. Social media (n=150, 45%) was the most preferable source of information during the pandemic.”. Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic affected the academic advancement of medical students, particularly during the years of their clinical training at the University of Jeddah. Our findings also showed that the COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the students' financial, hygienic, and mental health, which led to increased depression and concern about visiting hospitals and providing care for patients, which ultimately prevented them from acquiring the necessary clinical skills.