Practical activities in medical training during remote teaching in the context of the pandemic

Practical activities in medical training during remote teaching modality in the pandemic context

Abstract

Introduction: With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, medical training was impacted by challenges such as the interruption of face-to-face activities, requiring adaptations to the teaching-learning process using virtual teaching environments. Objective: To analyze the effects of the absence of practical activities in medical training during emergency remote teaching in the medical course at the Federal University of Santa Catarina - Araranguá campus. Method: This is a qualitative exploratory study. 46 medical students from the Federal University of Santa Catarina - Araranguá campus, participated during the year 2021. Data collection was carried out through seven online focus groups. The information was analyzed using the thematic Content Analysis method. Results: Three categories were highlighted: distance education and home learning; gaps in learning and lack of practices; and losses in the construction of knowledge. Difficulties faced by students in the remote teaching modality and the impacts on medical training were evidenced. Conclusion: Medical training during the pandemic demonstrated the importance of face-to-face interaction between students, professors, users and the community. The advent of remote teaching caused concerns among medical students, given the excessive workload of theoretical content, indicating that distance medical training does not replace face-to-face training.