Impact of Covid 19 on Medical Students and Their Needs to Adjust to the New Normal: Students’ Perspectives on the Challenges, Coping Strategies, and Expected Support

Abstract

Medical students faced numerous challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their experiences in overcoming this unprecedented disaster will be useful for addressing similar incidents in the future. We studied students' perspectives on the challenges, coping strategies, and expected support as part of a larger study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical students. We obtained ethics approval and conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study at the Faculty of Medicine, SUSL. The study period was between December 2021 and March 2022. All first (n=110), second (n=75), and third-year students (n=70) were enrolled. The study was conducted electronically using a self-administered questionnaire via Google Forms. A thematic analysis of the responses was performed to examine the students' perspectives on the challenges they would face, coping strategies, and expectations of staff support. The response rates were 74.5% for the first year, 97.3% for the second year, and 61.4% for third-year students. There were five major themes in terms of the challenges they expect with the resumption of academic activities: facing multiple exams that had been postponed, adapting to the new university environment and routines, coping with the increased workload, time management to meet the demands, and adapting a restricted lifestyle due to the fear of contracting COVID. The primary coping strategies identified were utilizing effective study methods, socializing, seeking help from staff and friends, scheduling time for relaxation and entertainment, and time management strategies. Expected support from university staff was adapting interactive teaching-learning methods, providing psychological support, arranging social functions, organizing extracurricular activities and religious activities, improving lecture schedules, and providing guidance for studies. These findings highlight several major challenges students anticipate with the resumption of academic activities. Challenges such as multiple exams, restricted lifestyles, and fear of contracting the virus were probably rare prior to the pandemic. The innovative strategies used to meet such challenges could be strengthened by the university to further assist the needy. The students also identified several measures within and outside the curriculum that could facilitate a smooth transition when returning to work. These would be useful for consideration by the university that is keen on student wellbeing.