Are students of medical institute ready for a pandemic‑influenced future with online classes? A study from Southern India

Introduction: Online teaching and blended mode of teaching in health sciences introduced due to lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, will be required in case of any future contingencies. Hence, opinions and perceptions of students become important to keep up the quality of education. The objective of this study was to assess medical students’ perceptions of online lecture classes, their experience with online teaching, and the associated factors. Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in a Medical Institute in Mangalore, India between 2020 and 2022 among 992 undergraduate students from health sciences. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 29.0 and a P < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: Overall, 638 (64.3%) were female and 354 (35.7%) were male; 729 (73.5%) were from medicine (MBBS), 134 (13.5%) from physiotherapy (BPT) 117 (11.8%); rest from BSc. A higher number of MBBS students (vs. other streams), males (P = 0.009) and those with previous experience with online discussions preferred online classes (P = 0.312). The most common reasons to prefer online classes were freedom in terms of choice of location and attire, flexible timings to rewatch the classes, and ease of clarifying doubts online. Internet speed, device-related issues, and strain on the eyes were the challenges of online classes. Furthermore, students felt that lack of clinical exposure and person-to-person interaction were disadvantages of online classes. Conclusions: Higher number of undergraduate health sciences students preferred offline teaching mode. Online teaching offers many learner-friendly features. However, online teaching lacks direct interaction, which could be enhanced by blended teaching methods.