CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Ibnosina Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences 2020; 12(04): 280-287
DOI: 10.4103/ijmbs.ijmbs_128_20
Original Article

Impact of COVID-19 on educational and academic activities of health-care professionals: An international survey of doctors, dentists and nurses.

Hussain Alsaffar
1   (My) Dentist, Whiston Village, 14 Greenes Road, Whiston
2   Faculty of Medicine, Arabian Gulf University, Manma
,
Haider Al-Saffar
3   Dasman Diabetes Institute
,
Khadija Ali
4   University of Birmingham, Birmingham
,
Fahad Aljaser
5   Department of Endocrine and Diabetes, Faculty of Medicine-Ain Shams University
,
Amar Mahdi
6   Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulazizi University for Health Science, Jedda -
,
Manar Muhammad
7   Department of Diabetology and Endocrinology, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Mohamed First University, Oujda
,
Salwa Alaidarous
8   Health Education England Yorkshire and Humber
,
Najwa Rbiai
9   Paediatrics, Medical Practice, Shaikh Shakhbout Medical City Abu Dhabi, The Gulf University
,
Iyad Ahmed
10   Paediatric Endocrinology Department, Shaikh Shakhbout Medical City Abu Dhabi, The Gulf University
,
Foued Abdelaziz
11   Faculty of Biology, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
,
Asma Deeb
12   Department of Child Health, Sultan Qaboos University, Mascat,
› Author Affiliations

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the whole world in different levels from numerous aspects. This deadly, highly contagious viral infection has led to lockdown in many cities across the world; significantly disrupting previously planned educational activities. Objectives: We aim to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the educational and academic activities of the health care professionals practicing in different countries. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a link to an online questionnaire which was sent to doctors, dentists and nurses working in several countries using WhatsApp medical groups. The questionnaire consisted of eight questions related to the impact of COVID-19 on educational and academic activities of the health care professionals (HCPs). Results: 898 responses received from doctors (66.5%), nurses (21%) and dentist (12.5%), working in 36 countries. 66.6% of respondents think their academic activities are less than what it was before the pandemic. However, 63% of participants have attended more webinars and 58% have completed more on-line courses and e-learning sessions during the pandemic. Conclusions: COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted the academic activities of HCPs. However, COVID-19 health crisis created an opportunity for enriching the educational activities through e-learning, online courses, and webinars. This experience should be utilized in the future, with more online material available.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.




Publication History

Received: 09 October 2020

Accepted: 02 November 2020

Article published online:
14 July 2022

© 2020. The Libyan Authority of Scientific Research and Technologyand the Libyan Biotechnology Research Center. All rights reserved. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License,permitting copying and reproductionso long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, oradapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
A-12, 2nd Floor, Sector 2, Noida-201301 UP, India

 
  • References

  • 1 Dubey S, Biswas P, Ghosh R, Chatterjee S, Dubey MJ, Chatterjee S, et al. Psychosocial impact of COVID-19. Diabetes Metab Syndr 2020;14:779-88.
  • 2 Kock RA, Karesh WB, Veas F, Velavan TP, Simons D, Mboera LE, et al. 2019-nCoV in context: Lessons learned? Lancet Planet Health 2020;4:e87-8.
  • 3 UNDP. United Nations Development Programme; 2020. Available from: https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/coronavirus/socio-economic-impact-of-covid-19.html. [Last accessed on 2020 Jul 14].
  • 4 World-Bank. The Global Economic Outlook During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Changed World; 2020. Available from: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2020/06/08/the-global-economic-outlook-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-a-changed-world. [Last accessed on Jul 14].
  • 5 Gorbalenya AE, Baker SC, Baric RS. The species severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus: Classifying 2019-nCoV and naming it SARS-CoV-2. Nat Microbiol 2020;5:536-44.
  • 6 Chatterjee S, Mutahi K. Health Workers are the Frontline Soldiers Against COVID-19. Let's Protect Them; 2020. Available from: https://www.un.org/africarenewal/web-features/coronavirus/health-workers-are-frontline-soldiers-against-covid-19-let%E2%80%99s-protect-them. [Last accessed on 2020 Jul 13].
  • 7 Kursumovic E, Lennane S, Cook TM. Deaths in healthcare workers due to COVID-19: The need for robust data and analysis; 2020. Available from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/anae. 15116. [Last accessed on 2020 Jul 14].
  • 8 Thomas G. World Health Organization; 2013. Available from: https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2013/health-workforce-shortage/en/. [Last accessed on 2020 Jul 14].
  • 9 World Health Organization; 2020. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/07-04-2020-who-and-partners-call-for-urgent-investment-in-nurses. [Last accessed on 2020 Jul 14].
  • 10 Ahmed K, Wang TT, Ashrafian H, Layer GT, Darzi A, Athanasiou T. The effectiveness of continuing medical education for specialist recertification. Can Urol Assoc J 2013;7:266-72.
  • 11 Gravitz L, Marcia F. Medscape; 2020. Available from: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/926359#vp_3. [Last accessed on 2020 Jul 13].
  • 12 Korbel JO, Stegle O. Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on life scientists. Genome Biol 2020;21:113.
  • 13 Kanter SL. What is academic medicine? Acad Med 2008;83:205-6.
  • 14 Survey Monkey. Available from: https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/how-to-analyze-survey-data/. [Last accessed on 2020 Oct 30].
  • 15 World Health Organization. WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard. World Health Organization; 2020. Available from: https://covid19.who.int/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwPaN4siD6wIVyLLVCh3RUwa5EAAYASAAEgL5E_D_BwE. [Last accessed on 2020 May 08].
  • 16 World-Bank. The World Bank; 2018. Available from: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.MED.PHYS.ZS. [Last accessed on 2020 May 08].
  • 17 DHSC. NIHR; 2020. Available from: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/dhsc-issues-guidance-on-the-impact-on-covid-19-on-research-funded-or-supported-by-nihr/24469. [Last accessed on 2020 Feb 08].
  • 18 Mehrotra A, Michael C, David L, Hilary H, David C. The Commonwealth Fund, The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Outpatient Visits: A Rebound Emerges; 2020. Available from: https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/2020/apr/impact-covid-19-outpatient-visits. [Last accessed on 2020 Feb 08].
  • 19 CDC. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC; 2020. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/mitigating-staff-shortages.html. [Last accessed on 2020 Feb 08].
  • 20 Carmassia C, Claudia F, Dell'Oste V, Cordone A, Bertelloni CA, Bui E, et al. PTSD symptoms in healthcare workers facing the three coronavirus outbreaks: What can we expect after the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychiatry Res 2020;292:113312. [doi: 10.1016/j.psychres. 2020.113312].
  • 21 World Health Organisation; 2020. Available from: https://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.HWFGRP_0020?lang=en. [Last accessed on Feb 08].
  • 22 National Health services; 2018. Available from: https://digital.nhs.uk/news-and-events/latest-news/statistics-show-change-in-nhs-workforce-over-time. [Last accessed on Feb 08].
  • 23 Said NB, Chiang VCL. The knowledge, skill competencies, and psychological preparedness of nurses for disasters: A systematic review. Int Emerg Nurs 2020;48:100806.
  • 24 Holm HA. Quality issues in continuing medical education. BMJ 1998;316:621-4.
  • 25 Miller, Lee J, and Wei Lu. 2018. Bloomberg. Accessed 8 5, 2020. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-19/u-s-near-bottom-of-health-index-hong-kong-and-singapore-at-top. [Last accessed on 2020 May 08].
  • 26 Hua D Kongb Y, Lic W, Hand Q, Zhange X, Xia Zhuf L, Wanf SW, et al. Frontline nurses' burnout, anxiety, depression, and fear statuses and their associated factors during the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China: A large-scale cross-sectional study. EClin Med 2020;24:100424 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100424
  • 27 Strielkowski W. Researchgate; 2020. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340579000_How_can_the_COVID-19_pandemic_help_higher_education?channel=doi&linkId=5e91b8a6299bf130798fc200&showFulltext=true. [Last accessed on 2020 Jul 14].