Exploring Ghanaian medical students’ learning experiences during the COVID-19 lockdown: a case study of the University for Development Studies Medical School

Abstract

Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues to affect health professions education, especially in developing and middle-income countries, even though alternative educational measures have been sanctioned to continue educating students in their homes while observing physical distancing. Methods: A qualitative cross-sectional study design was adopted for the study. Participants among the four departments of a Ghanaian medical school were treated as clusters, and a voluntary response sampling approach was used to recruit students across the clusters to respond to self-administered online Google interview questions on students’ learning experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: The study found that lack of supervision, lack of access to school library resources, overload of syllabi and the interference of household chores were major factors that made online learning difficult and ineffective during the COVID-19 lockdown. Most participants (n=133, 67%) described online learning as completely inadequate, ineffective and an expensive mode of learning which may not develop the necessary competence and skills required for effective clinical practice. Conclusions: Notwithstanding this, almost all students believed that combining face-to-face and online learning will significantly improve medical education. The COVID-19 pandemic brought about the increased use of online learning in the health professions that was accompanied with significant challenges for students.