The Impact of COVID 19 pandemics and Online Learning on Medical Students’ Academic Achievement

Provide an abstract of 150- to 250-word paragraph that provides readers with a quick overview of your work. It should Background: COVID-19 epidemic started in March 2021 globally as declared by WHO. In Iraq, The Ministry of Higher education ordered ceasing class attendance of all students in Universities all over the country. Online learning was the alternative solution to universities students, the medical students in Karbala university were fooling this approach. Objective: This study aims to explore the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on medical students’ learning obstacles and their academic achievements. Material and methods: This cross-sectional study is based on a questionnaire that was planned and provided to students in the medical college. The sample size of this study (405 participants out of 1030) was calculated using the online Raosoft® sample size calculator. The survey questionnaire consisted of 12 fixed-alternative questions including multiple choice and nominal-dichotomous. Results: All responses from the medical students (405 responses) were analyzed. Female students with age 21-23 years and living in Karbala are the highest number of participants. Most students are worried about the impact of epidemics on themselves and the world. 76.63% of students agreed that their clinical skills are affected negatively and most of them are not satisfied with their academic achievement. “Feeling lazy “, “internet connectivity” and “ too many distractions at home” are the top three challenges facing students during the online learning period. The majority of students (281, 70.96%) had not participated in a previous academic survey. Conclusion: The pandemic period has a significant impact on students’ psychological status and academic achievement. Online learning is a new experience for students who need further study. Additionally, they need to be engaged more in future university surveys to enhance their engagement with their medical college.