Hygienic assessment of the effectiveness of using distance educational technologies in medical education
The aim of this study was to assess the impact of distance learning technologies (DLTs) on the daily routine and health of medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The questions included in the questionnaire were intended to measure the awareness of students about the risks associated with distance learning (DL), elicit their opinion about the organization of the learning process and subjectively assess DL as such. The study was conducted in December 2020. It enrolled 508 medical students of Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University (Moscow) and of Northern State Medical University (Arkhangelsk). Statistical analysis was performed in Statistica 13.0. For categorical variables, the significance of differences was assessed using Pearson's chi-square test. Differences were considered significant at р ≤ 0.05. The analysis reveals that 80% of the respondents thought that DLTs were implemented effectively. The dynamics of academic performance were used as an objective indicator of content assimilation. No significant differences were discovered in the academic performance of students before, during and after the DL period. Although medical students are ready to use some elements of DLTs in the learning process, there is a need for introducing active teaching methods, refining teaching strategies, perfecting teaching skills and teaching students competencies that can be used to maintain their health in the classroom and in a distance learning setting.