The Satisfaction Level of Undergraduate Medical and Nursing Students Regarding Distant Preclinical and Clinical Teaching Amidst COVID-19 Across India

Siddhartha Dutta, Sneha Ambwani, Hina Lal, Kishna Ram, Govind Mishra, Tarun Kumar, Shoban Babu Varthya Department of Pharmacology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, IndiaCorrespondence: Tarun KumarDepartment of Pharmacology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Room No. C-280, Second Floor, Medical College Building, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, 352005, IndiaTel +918447875716Email tarunkmr759@gmail.comBackground: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the educational system and led to a drastic shift of professional undergraduate teaching for medical and nursing students into online mode.Methods: This was a cross-sectional, observational questionnaire-based study to assess the satisfaction level of the students. The questionnaire had 25 items of which 23 were questions with responses on the Likert scale and two items on views and suggestions were open-ended. The online questionnaire was shared through various messaging/mailing platforms. Overall satisfaction was assessed, and a satisfaction index was calculated for each item. Data are presented in frequencies and percentages, and SPSS was used to analyze the data.Results: A total of 1068 students participated in the study. The majority were from the age group 21– 23 years (54%) and there was almost the same number of participants from both genders. The majority of the students were medical undergraduates (n=919), were in their second year (n=669), belonged to a government institution (n=897) and used a mobile phone for their online classes (n = 871). The majority of the students were dissatisfied (42%) with no significant difference between medical and nursing students (p = 0.192). First-year students were significantly dissatisfied compared with other senior students (p = 0.005). The maximum satisfaction index (78.23%) was observed with faculties being supportive and responsive in resolving the queries and the minimum (46.39%) was observed with issues related to communication and discuss