COVID-19 AND MEDICAL EDUCATION IN GHANA: ASSESSING THE IMPACT

Authors

  • Edward Asumanu Postgraduate Unit, 37 Military Hospital, Accra, Ghana
  • Linda Tsevi College of Education, University of Ghana, Ghana

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v8i9.3903

Keywords:

assessment, COVID-19, Ghana, medical education, pandemic, student learning

Abstract

Medical education in Ghana has been affected in many ways by the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic. Though the pandemic has affected both preclinical and clinical segments of medical education, the effect has been felt more at the clinical stage. Medical students on vacation who started their clinical training abroad could not return to their destination of study to complete their programmes because of COVID-19 linked travel restrictions. This qualitative study examined how COVID-19 impacted on teaching and learning at a public higher education institution offering clinical medical education in Ghana for over 200 medical students. These medical students were from three different higher education institutions with varied curriculum outcomes. Thus, for them to be considered as a single group required innovativeness on the part of administrators. Open-ended interviews were held with administrators and the outcome indicated that salient aspects of the clinical training process had been impacted. These included administration of clinical education, curriculum, student learning, student assessment and code of practice. As a result of the pandemic, student learning shifted from traditional face to face interaction to online learning at the beginning. Some of the administrative challenges that ensued included the need for reduced number of students per tutor and introduction of afternoon sessions with a limited budget. The paper concludes that COVID-19 has been disruptive to traditional medical education in Ghana. However, the novel learning processes may provide opportunities to increase access to medical education using a phased system of learning. The findings from this study should have implications for policy and contribute to the discourse on blended learning in medical education in Ghana while ensuring that quality is maintained in all instances.

 

Article visualizations:

Hit counter

Author Biographies

  • Edward Asumanu, Postgraduate Unit, 37 Military Hospital, Accra, Ghana
    Edward Asumanu, FGPS, FWACS is the Coordinator of the Postgraduate College at 37 Military Hospital, Accra, Ghana, and a part time Lecturer in Surgery at the University of Ghana Medical School. His research interests include medical education and surgical infections.
  • Linda Tsevi, College of Education, University of Ghana, Ghana
    Linda Tsevi, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana Learning Centres and Coordinator of the Koforidua Learning Centre, College of Education, University of Ghana. Her research interests include quality assurance in private higher education, partnerships among higher education institutions, faculty issues, student engagement, online learning and international student issues.

References

Adjei-Nkansah, A., Adjei P, & Torpey, K. (2020). COVID-19 and medical education: an opportunity to build back better. Ghana Med J, 54(4),113-116. doi: htpp://dx.doi.org/10.4314/gmj.v54i4s.18

Adnan, M., & Anwar, K, (2020). Online learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic: Students’ perspectives, Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology, 2(1), 45 – 51.

Ahmed, H., Allaf, M., Elghazaly, H. (2020). COVID-19 and Medical Education. The Lancet. Infectious Diseases, 20(7), 777–778. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30226-7

Alsoufi, A, Alsuyihili, A, Msherghi A, et al. (2020). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical education: Medical students’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding electronic learning. PLoS ONE, 15: 11, e0242905. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242905

Al-Balas, M., Al-Balas, H. I., Jaber, H. M, et al. (2020). Distance learning in clinical medical education amid COVID-19 pandemic in Jordan: current situation, challenges, and perspectives. BMC Medical Educ, 20, 341, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-020-02257-4

Ferrel, M. N, & Ryan J. J. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 on medical education, Cureus, 12: 3, e7492. DOI 10.7759/cureus.7492

Findley, C. H. (2020). Medical school education remains strong during COVID-19 pandemic. Retrieved from https://med.uth.edu/psychiatry/2020/06/26/medical-school-education-remains-strong-during-covid-19-pandemic/

Hilburg, R., Patel, N., Ambruso, S., Biewald, M. A., & Farouk, S. S. (2020). Medical education during the coronavirus disease pandemic: Learning from a distance, Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease, 27(5), 412-417. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.ackd.2020.05.017

Jaideep, G. (2020). Reimagining medical education in India at the time of the COVID-19 crisis. Retrieved from https://www.expresshealthcare.in/blogs/guest-blogs-healthcare/reimagining-medical-education-in-india-at-the-time-of-the-covid-19-crisis/425310/. Accessed 15 November 2020

Khalil, R., Mansour A. E, Fadda W. A, et al. (2020). The sudden transition to synchronized online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia: A qualitative study exploring medical students’ perspectives, BMC Med Educ, 20, 285, 1-10, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-020-02208-z

Lauri, S., & Kyngas, H. (2005). Developing Nursing Theories (Finnish: Hoitotieteen Teorian Kehittaminen). Werner Soderstrom, Dark Oy, Vantaa.

Lekamwasam S, (2017). Clinician-administrator: Challenges associated with changing roles, MedEdPublish, 6, 2: 37. https://doi.org/10.15694/mep.2017.000099

Liang C. Z, Ooi S. B. S., & Wang W. (2020). Pandemics and their impact on medical training: Lessons from Singapore. Acad Med. 95, 9, 1359-1361. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000003441.

Lucey, C. R., & Johnston, S, C. (2020). The transformational effects of COVID-19 on medical education, JAMA, 324, 11, 1033–1034. 2020, doi:10.1001/jama.2020.14136

Macdougall, C., Dangerfield P, Katz D., & Strain, D, W. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 on medical education and medical students: How and When Can They Return to Placements? MedEdPublish, 9, 1,159. https://doi.org/10.15694/mep.2020.000159.1

Monaghan, A. M. (2020). Medical teaching and assessment in the era of COVID-19. Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development, 7, 1-3, https://doi.org/10.1177/2382120520965255

Morgan, D. L., & Guevara. H. (2008). Audiorecording. In Lisa M. Given (Ed.), The Sage Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods, Volumes 1 and 2. SAGE Publications.

Rose, S. (2020). Medical student education in the time of COVID-19.” JAMA, 323, 21, 2131–2132. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.5227.

Rubin, H. J, Rubin, I. S. (2005). Qualitative Interviewing: The Art of Hearing Data. (Second Edition). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. 2005.

Samaraee, A. A. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on medical education, British Journal of Hospital Medicine, 81, 7, 1-4.

Sani, I., Hamza, Y., Chedid, Y., Amalendran, J., & Hamza, N. (2020). Understanding the consequence of COVID-19 on undergraduate medical education: Medical students’ perspective, Annals of Medicine and Surgery, 58, 117–119.

Seidman, I, E. (1998). Interviewing as Qualitative Research: A Guide for Researchers in Education and the Social Sciences. (Second Edition) New York: Teachers College Press.

Shehata M. H, K., Abouzeid E, Wasfy N. F. Abdelaziz, A., Wells, R. L. & Ahmed, S. A. (2020). Medical education adaptations post COVID-19: An Egyptian reflection, Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development. doi:10.1177/2382120520951819

Downloads

Published

2021-08-25

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 9 (2021)

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).