DE02 Read the virtual room: the value of in-person undergraduate teaching

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a transition from face-to-face to virtual undergraduate teaching. Medical school curricula now typically provide a blend of both, offering convenience and flexibility to students and educators alike. However, concerns have been raised about the quality of distance learning (Al-Balas M, Al-Balas HI, Jaber HM et al. Distance learning in clinical medical education amid COVID-19 pandemic in Jordan: current situation, challenges, and perspectives. BMC Med Educ 2020; 20: 341). Dermatology-specific studies have highlighted the benefits of virtual undergraduate learning, although direct comparison is yet to be made with face-to-face teaching (Phillips AL, Edwards S, Parmesar K et al. Slack as a virtual undergraduate dermatology community: a pilot study. Clin Exp Dermatol 2021; 46: 1028–37). Hence, we sought to determine whether students felt more prepared for the dermatology content in the UK Medical Licensing Assessment (UKMLA) with in-person or virtual teaching sessions. In total, 50 year-4 medical students (56% female, 44% male, mean age 24.2 years) attended six dermatology teaching sessions. Each lecture covered three to four conditions from the General Medical Council UKMLA content map and incorporated single-best-answer questions throughout. Participants were divided into those who received teaching in-person (n = 26) and those who received the same sessions separately, over Microsoft Teams (n = 24). Pre- and post-teaching feedback forms were provided. Students reported their awareness of the dermatology content required for the UKMLA and their confidence in this knowledge for each session; these were reported on a scale of 1–10. Analysis was performed using Mann–Whitney tests to determine whether the differences in reported scores were statistically significant. In total, 96% (48) of participants reported that they had not received prior dermatology teaching. Combined results from all six face-to-face sessions demonstrated consistent increases in confidence scores from before to after the session, with a mean increase of 4.97 (SD 1.5). When compared with the virtual group (mean increase 2.40, SD 1.7), the analysis reached statistical significance (P < 0.001). Similarly, in-person teaching resulted in significantly greater improvements in awareness of the UKMLA dermatology content (mean increase 4.87, SD 1.90) compared with virtual teaching (mean increase 3.31, SD 1.52; P < 0.001). Subanalysis of each session also concluded statistical significance favouring in-person teaching for both confidence (P < 0.001 for each session) and awareness of content (P = 0.008, P = 0.004, P < 0.001, P = 0.006, P = 0.001, P = 0.003 for the six sessions). While virtual teaching provides a feasible alternative, face-to-face teaching offers superior benefits towards increasing students’ awareness and confidence in dermatology content for the UKMLA. These findings support the continued inclusion of in-person sessions in undergraduate dermatology curricula to enhance educational outcomes.