Medical students’ perception of distance-based education during the COVID-19 pandemic in Slovenia: A qualitative study

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a broad direct impact on education, and at the same time it has significantly changed students’ lives. This study examines how Slovenian medical students experienced the shift to distance-based education following multiple lockdowns. METHODS: The aim of this study is to examine experiences of medical students about distance-based education in the period of multiple lockdowns in 2020/2021. We used focused interviews to collect data. The questionnaire was developed in the following manner: the first set of questions was developed after studying the literature from Slovenia and abroad about distance-based education in higher education during COVID-19 lockdowns. The researchers then discussed this set to narrow the topics. In addition to preformulated questions, additional sub-questions also typical for focused interviews were asked as part of the research. We carried out a qualitative study using a qualitative content analysis method to analyze the data. RESULTS: Sixteen interviews were conducted. We defined four categories summarizing students’ experiences with distance-based education during the COVID-19 pandemic: 1) technical issues, 2) organization of distance-based education, 3) social exclusion of students, and 4) suggestions for improvement. The categories are exclusive and represent individual topics for further analysis of students’ experiences with DBE during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results are supported by quotes from the interviews. CONCLUSIONS: Medical students’ experiences with DBE mainly revealed shortcomings in computer literacy. Technical issues were largely an indicator that significantly marked students’ transition to DBE. Another important finding is that medical students emphasized problems related to social exclusion. Students made suggestions for improvements that broadly relate to the higher education system, and not only to the COVID-19 pandemic.