Students’ perspectives of E-learning utilization in medical students: A qualitative study at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City

Introduction: The global landscape of medical education has been profoundly transformed by the COVID-19 pandemic. E-learning plays a significant role in promoting students’ self-directed learning. However, end-of-course surveys have indicated that students do not perceive e-learning to be as beneficial as anticipated. The current study explores e-learning utilization and the challenges impeding its effectiveness, highlighting the difficulties encountered by students during their initial experiences. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted in the academic year–2022-2023 at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City (UMP). Sixteen students from years 3 to 5 participated in the interviews. Results: The findings revealed three themes: (1) the inadequacy of e-learning functions to support learning activities, (2) barriers preventing students from increasing e-learning usage for learning activities, and (3) recommendations for maximizing the utilization of e-learning platforms. Discussion and conclusions: To fully harness the e-learning potential, it is crucial to address the challenges faced by students and continuously improve the platform based on their feedback. This could involve expanding access to digital resources and developing new features tailored to different educational stages and disciplines. Addressing these issues can render e-learning a robust and effective tool for enhancing educational outcomes.