The Outcome of the Online Virtual Classes During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study in the Female Campus of the Faculty of Medicine in Rabigh-King Abdulaziz University

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 pandemic has affected the educational process greatly in the academic year 2019–2020. Therefore, this warranted an urgent and effective shift and intervention toward the online teaching practice. AIM: We have aimed in this study to assess the impact of the necessary shift of the educational process of the basic sciences toward the online distant learning in the female campus; Faculty of Medicine in Rabigh, King Abdulaziz University. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Promptly shift toward the online teaching practice through virtual classrooms for the 2(nd) and 3(rd) year students was accomplished during the second term of the academic year 2019–2020. Following that, we analyzed the efficacy of this shift qualitatively through focus group discussions with the students and the staff members. For objective assessment, we analyzed and compared the students' results of the second term of the academic years 2018–2019 and 2019–2020 regarding the same modules. RESULTS: The results of the students were not negatively affected during the pandemic hit. Conversely, the results improved in the basic science modules, and no significant difference was found in the clinically-oriented genetic module. CONCLUSION: The significant move toward the online virtual classrooms did not affect the teaching and learning process negatively. Contrarily, the online teaching and learning practice have proved to be a decent alternative if applied on a sound basis during emergencies and thus is promising as an adjuvant method in the educational process in the ordinary circumstances.