Medical Students’ Point of View About Virtual Classes, Technological Infrastructures, and Length of Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: Most in-person classes are being held via virtual platforms, and bedside education has faced serious challenges during the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study evaluated the Iranian medical students’ point of view regarding the virtual classes and length of education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We designed a cross-sectional study using convenience sampling about 6 months after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. We formulated 4 questions regarding their satisfaction with infrastructures and contents of virtual classes, length of education, and their perspectives on how clinical and practical education should continue during the COVID-19 pandemic. We designed an online questionnaire and sent it to medical students all over the nation using virtual platforms and groups in social media. The attained data have been coded and analyzed with SPSS version 22 using descriptive and analytic tests. Results: A total of 1999 medical students participated in the study, and most students were from type 1 universities (50.4%) and were in the clerkship stage (33.3%) of education. Medical interns (mean = 3.34 [SD = 1.29]) were most satisfied with the infrastructures of virtual classes compared with students in basic sciences (mean = 2.93 [SD = 1.18]), physiopathology (mean = 2.62 [SD = 1.26]), and clerkship (mean = 2.56 [SD = 1.31]) stages (P < 0.001). Also, students in type 1 and the nongovernmental (NG) type universities were significantly more satisfied with the content, with mean scores of 2.94 and 3.14, respectively, and infrastructures, with mean scores of 2.77 and 2.98, respectively, of virtual classes than students in type 2, with mean scores of 2.59 and 2.42, respectively, and 3 universities, with mean scores of 2.54 and 2.34, respectively (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Infrastructure is a crucial component in virtual learning, and it can also affect satisfaction with the provided virtual content. Also, providing better clinical content should be performed for medical students before their internship during the current pandemic situation.