Anwar A Alshammari, Abdulrahman M Alshammari, Nawaf M. Alotaibi, MD Ali Mujtaba, MD Tauquir Alam


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ABSTRACT

Objective: The purpose of the survey was to gather information from students on their learning preferences prior

to the COVID-19 outbreak, barriers to online education during the pandemic, and the mental and psychological

effects of COVID-19 on students.

Method: Applying Google Forms, a cross-sectional pharmacy student-targeted online questionnaire designed to

develop. In order to ensure that only pharmacy students responded, an introductory opening inquiry of the

program name used to select out non-pharmacy students. Following that, these few demographic questions are

asked to the participant's present institution and program year in which the participants currently in.

Results: A total 260 pharmacy students received the survey, out of total 186 replies were received from

professional pharmacy students, resulting in a response rate of around 71.5%. Almost half of the students (94%)

chose traditional face-to-face training, while 32.8% preferred a combination of online and face-to-face instruction,

and only 16.7% liked online instruction alone. The difficulties to online education during the COVID-19 pandemic

outbreak show that, Issues with in-person communication (23.7%), pandemic-related anxiety and stress (22%),

time management (19.9%), experience in online education (16.7%). The majority of respondents (87%) intended

to incorporate online knowledge gained during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak into their teaching/learning

techniques. During the COVID-19 epidemic, we discovered that practically all students were plagued by

symptoms of sadness, anxiety, tension, and poor sleep quality, with the majority suffering from significant

depression (31.2 %).

Conclusion: This study concludes that most of the students are in favor of incorporation and applications of

online learning experiences in teaching/learning practices garnered during pandemic. Furthermore, the majority of

students had changed their behavior as a result of coronavirus, while nearly half of those polled experiencing an

increase in anxiety and tension.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, online learning, mental health, Pharm.D students, Pharmacy education, face to

face learning.



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