Perception towards Online Classes during COVID-19 among MBBS and BDS Students in a Medical College of Nepal: A Descriptive Crosssectional Study

INTRODUCTION: Sudden outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has affected the educational system worldwide, forced the medical colleges to close due to lock down, and disrupted the classroom face-to-face teaching process. As a result, medical colleges shifted to an online mode of teaching. The aim of this study is to find out the perception towards online classes during COVID-19 lockdown period among MBBS and BDS students at a medical college of Nepal. METHODS: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out at Universal College of Medical Sciences and Teaching Hospital among first and second year Bachelor in Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery and Bachelor in dental surgery students from 1st June 2020 to 30th August 2020. Ethical approval was taken from Institutional Review Committee of Universal College of Medical Sciences and Teaching Hospital (IRC UCMS, Ref: UCMS/IRC/025/20). Convenient sampling method was used. Semi-structured questionnaire was used. Statistical Package for Social Sciences 22 was used for analysis and frequency and percentage was calculated. RESULTS: One hundred fifty six (73.93%) students were enjoying online learning only to some extent, 135 (63.98%) felt online class not equally effective as face-to-face teaching. The students had disturbance during online classes as internet disturbance 168 (79.60%), and electricity problem 47 (22.3%). Similarly, many students 155 (73.50%) felt external disturbance, headache 26 (12.3%), and eye strain 26 (12.3%). CONCLUSIONS: Most of the students suffered from disturbances during online classes probably because of internet and electricity problem. When compulsory to conduct online classes, students felt that not more than three online classes per day should be conducted to avoid eye strain and headache.