Virtual anatomy learning through the eye of ayurveda medical students in Sri Lanka during COVID 19 pandemic.

Abstract

Anatomy is the foundation stone of medical education. The COVID 19 pandemic imposed unexpected disruption to Anatomy education with most universities moving regular onsite classes to the online session. The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions of Ayurveda medical students regarding virtual or online Anatomy learning. The study was conducted on 69 second-year Ayurveda medical students using a self-administrated questionnaire. The majority of the students (92.8%) did not have prior experience in online learning (OL) before the COVID 19 pandemic. Regarding the learning activities preferred by students prior to the COVID 19, 73.9% of students preferred the live lectures from the academic staff. It was evident that 92.8% of students believed that zoom cloud meeting is the most effective method of Anatomy in the OL platform. In order to improve their Anatomy dissection knowledge, 50.7% of students were suggested to show live Gross Anatomy dissection. The OL is more successful than onsite learning for the theory of Anatomy. Access to online materials (86.9%), learning from their own places (92.7%), the ability to stay at home (95.6%), interactivity of the class (56.5%), and the ability to record a meeting (88.4%) are the key advantages of OL. Reduced Interaction with the teacher (78.2%), technical issues (92.7%), lack of interactions with their colleagues (82.6%), poor learning conditions at home (71%), and social isolation (81.1%) are the main disadvantages that they must face in their online learning process. In the era of smartphones and the internet, it was indicated that the Ayurveda medical students prefer to be engaged in the hybrid system which includes online Anatomy lectures with onsite Anatomy practicals.