A rapid review of the effectiveness of alternative education delivery strategies for undergraduate and postgraduate medical, dental, nursing and pharmacy education during the COVID-19 pandemic
How effective were the different methods of teaching used during the pandemic for the education of medical, dental, nursing and pharmacy students?
Education delivery in colleges and universities was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This was especially true for healthcare students whose continuing education is vital to maintain a well-educated healthcare workforce. Teaching had to be delivered differently as an emergency response to the pandemic. Teaching changed from being delivered face-to-face to wholly online (remote or virtual learning) or partly face-to-face and partly online (blended learning). This had not been planned for by teachers or students. This review looks at whether these students were able to acquire the knowledge they needed to do their work well and what we can learn from this experience for the future.
It is important to bear in mind that the studies found were of low quality and involved only small numbers of people.
What we found compared to pre-COVID pandemic teaching:
- Remote teaching was valued, and learning was achieved, but whether virtual or face-to–face is better is less clear.
- In medicine, students were positive about the abilities and confidence they had gained and could demonstrate skills in stitching wounds as a result of taking part in on-line learning. However, lower levels of knowledge and poorer exam results were obtained by students who received virtual or blended teaching as opposed to face-to-face.
- In medicine, using methods that allowed students to interact with teachers was better than using videos or presentations.
- In dentistry, students gained knowledge from remote learning but felt their practical and people skills were lower than from in-person learning.
- In nursing, students gained knowledge from remote learning and felt their competency levels were similar but they felt more confident when learning or assessment was conducted online.
- In pharmacy, online learning was associated with higher skills but lower knowledge. The students’ own assessment of their competency and confidence were similar between those receiving online learning and those receiving face-to-face learning before the pandemic.
Policy and practice implications
- Remote learning is appreciated by students and enables continued teaching and learning in the short-term in an emergency situation.
- Additional practical sessions may be required post-emergency to address learning needs for some disadvantaged student groups.
- The change from the traditional to online teaching methods seems to affect students' performance at exams, particularly for practical-based subjects in dentistry and medicine.
• The available evidence is not sufficient for us to draw any conclusions about healthcare students from other specialities.
• It is unclear whether planned remote teaching, rather than relying on emergency adaptation, would be more effective.
• Further research is needed to inform policy decision-making in this area.
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