The Impact of Strengthening Study Habits for Medical Students During COVID-19 Academic Transition: a Mixed-Methods Study

Abstract

Purpose: Assess the impact of learner-specific interventions on third-year medical students to cope with quarantine distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We conducted a nested cross-sectional and mixed-methods study in a sample of 81 third-year medical students. Two face-to-face interventions were designed and conducted to offer tools to improve study habits, time management, and prioritizing skills. A nine-item structured questionnaire was administered. Descriptive statistics was performed for the quantitative section and thematic analysis for the qualitative section.

Results: Of the study population, 74.1% (60/81) completed the online questionnaire, 65.4% were female, and the mean age of the sample was 21.4±1.2 years old. Overall, ~50% of participants affirmed that the workshops were useful to improve time management, organize tasks and adapt to the new study modality imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 60% of the students found the application of the provided tools during the interventions (SMART and COMPASS) useful to determine personal values and set a proper mindset for coping with distance learning. Further, 93.3% of the respondents applied the SMART strategy learned to set goals at least once during the confinement time. These findings were also seen in the thematic analysis.

Conclusions: Overall, most of the students found the workshops useful and were able to practice what they had learned during this pandemic lockdown. Medical schools and higher education institutions should evaluate the possibility of formally including study habit preparation for undergraduates' students in order to provide resilience and successful academic adaptation during an ever-changing world.

Keywords: Academic resilience; COVID-19; Medical education; Proficient study skills; Study habits.

Fig. 1

Ten LASSI scales’ scores for the pre-intervention test (n=81). The horizontal dashed-red line shows the 50th percentile; students below this percentile usually need to improve their proficient study skills to succeed in college education

Fig. 2

Timeline of the LASSI USFQ research project execution during the academic year 2019–2020. The final study population of the nested cross-sectional design consisted of 60 third-year medical students located at Quito, Ecuador. LASSI Learning and Study Strategies Inventory assessment; NBME National Board of Medical Examiners; CBSE Comprehensive Basic Science Examination; IRB Institutional Review Board