Challenges of peer assisted learning in online clinical skills training of ophthalmology module

BACKGROUND: Online communication has taken over in the last 2 years due to the frequent lockdowns because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overburdened physicians in this pandemic are struggling to get enough time to teach clinical skills online to the students. Also, due to student’s safety issues, the students cannot fully attend the clinics. Therefore, in this scenario, online PAL (Peer Assisted Learning) sessions for clinical skill teaching and learning can be an effective alternative for undergraduate medical students. The academic limitations caused by the COVID-19 related lockdown however can have a pleasurable outcome if certain challenges, related to online PAL, are overcome. Therefore, the present study aims to identify the challenges of Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) sessions during online clinical skills training in the Ophthalmology module of undergraduate medical students. METHODS: This qualitative exploratory study, utilizing online focus group discussions to explore the challenges of online PAL in training and learning of clinical skills were carried at the Ophthalmology department of Batterjee Medical College, Jeddah; Saudi Arabia. A purposive convenient sampling technique was used to collect data. Data were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: The study identified six themes that were further divided into smaller subthemes. The subthemes derived from the collected data were organized under the following major themes; infrastructure, learning environment, psychological problems, interaction deficit, learning desires, and desire for feedback on performance. The major challenge reported by the medical student during online PAL sessions was infrastructure in terms of network connection, scheduling, and timing of the session. The unprofessional learning environment, psychological problems in terms of behavioral issues and personality changes, interaction deficit with peers, tutor, and patient, learning desires, and desire for feedback on performance were the other important challenges faced by the students. CONCLUSION: The challenges explored by our study can be used by the medical educators to incorporate online PAL as an effective, efficient, and alternative teaching and learning modality in the curriculum especially in compromised circumstances like the current COVID-19 pandemic. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-021-02959-3.