Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Dec 10;8(4):186-192.
doi: 10.4103/jmau.jmau_87_20. eCollection 2020 Oct-Dec.

Evaluation of Curricular Adaptations Using Digital Transformation in a Medical School in Arabian Gulf during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Archana Prabu Kumar  1   2 , Ahmed Mohammed Al Ansari  1 , Mohamed Hany Kamel Shehata  3   4 , Yasin Ibrahimm Yousif Tayem  5 , Mona Rushdi Khalil Arekat  6 , Adel Abdulrahim Mohammed Kamal  7 , Abdelhalim Deifalla  8 , Khaled Saeed Tabbara  9
Affiliations

Evaluation of Curricular Adaptations Using Digital Transformation in a Medical School in Arabian Gulf during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Archana Prabu Kumar et al. J Microsc Ultrastruct. .

Abstract

Background: Several institutions adopted innovative approaches to ensure continued learning for their students during the COVID-19 pandemic. All curricular innovations should undergo curriculum evaluation; hence, the objective of this paper was to share the salient features of evaluation using faculty and student's feedback on curricular adaptations implemented through digital transformation in a Medical School in Arabian Gulf during the COVID-19 pandemic, using a structured questionnaire.

Methodology: After getting informed consent, feedback about acceptability and limitations regarding various aspects of curricular adaptations was obtained from students and faculty, using a structured and validated questionnaire. The response rate from faculty and students was 90% and 60%, respectively. The qualitative responses were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results: About 97% agreed that Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, ZOOM, and Examsoft platforms were effective for curriculum delivery and assessment. 85% agreed that they were able to maintain online interactivity and 92% conveyed their willingness to continue to use these digital innovations even after the end of pandemic. "Lack of interactivity," "missed clinical training," "live sessions were more engaging than recorded ones" were the prominent themes emerged out of thematic analysis. All faculty and students expressed concern over the lack of clinical training involving real patients. All of them expressed appreciation to the university and faculty for their enormous efforts.

Conclusion: Innovative ways should be considered to start clinical teaching with real patients, during pandemic. The learning outcomes of digital learning should be validated across all institutions. New indicators related to "digital learning" should be considered for accreditation of medical schools.

Keywords: COVID-19; curricular adaptations; curriculum evaluation; digital transformation; medical education; virtual tutorial.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Mustafa N. Impact of the 2019 – 20 coronavirus pandemic on education. International Journal of Health Preferences Research. 2020 [Epub ahead of print April 20] https://doiorg/ 1013140/RG222794698245.
    1. Liang ZC, Ooi SB, Wang W. Pandemics and their impact on medical training: Lessons from Singapore. Acad Med. 2020;95:1359–61. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Amee. COVID-19: Keep in Touch. [[Last accessed on 2020 Jul 07]]. Available from: https://amee.org/covid-19 .
    1. Musingafi MC, Mhute I, Zebron S, Kaseke KE. Planning to teach: Interrogating the link among the curricula, the syllabi, schemes and lesson plans in the teaching process. JEP. 2015;6:54–9.
    1. Morrison J. Evaluation. Bmj. 2003;326:385–7. - PMC - PubMed