Impact on Medical Education and the Medical Student’s Attitude, Practice, Mental Health, After One Year of the Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesia

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions in educational
institutions across the country, prompting medical schools to adopt online learning
systems. This study aims to determine impact on medical education and the medical
student’s attitude, practice, mental health after 1 year of the Covid-19 pandemic in
Indonesia.
Methods: This study utilized a cross-sectional design. An online questionnaire was
distributed digitally to 49 medical schools in Indonesia from February–May 2021. A total
of 7,949 medical students participated in this study. Sampling was carried out based
on a purposive technique whose inclusion criteria were active college students. This
research used questionnaires distributed in online version among 49 medical faculties
that belong to The Association of Indonesian Private Medical Faculty. Instruments
included demographic database, medical education status, experience with medical
tele-education, ownership types of electronic devices, availability of technologies,
programs of education methods, career plans, attitudes toward pandemic, and the
mental health of respondents. Univariate and bivariate statistical analysis was conducted
to determine the association of variables. All statistical analyses using (IBM) SPSS
version 22.0.
Results: Most of the respondents were female (69.4%), the mean age was
20.9 � 2.1 years. More than half of the respondents (58.7%) reported that they have
adequate skills in using digital devices. Most of them (74%) agreed that e-learning
can be implemented in Indonesia. The infrastructure aspects that require attention are
Internet access and the type of supporting devices. The pandemic also has an impact on
the sustainability of the education program. It was found that 28.1% were experiencing
financial problems, 2.1% postponed their education due to this problems. The delay of
the education process was 32.6% and 47.5% delays in the clinical education phase.
Around 4% student being sick, self-isolation and taking care sick family. the pandemic
was found to affect students’ interests and future career plans (34%). The majority
of students (52.2%) are concerned that the pandemic will limit their opportunities to
become specialists. Nearly 40% of respondents expressed anxiety symptoms about a
variety of issues for several days. About a third of respondents feel sad, depressed, and
hopeless for a few days.
Conclusion: The infrastructure and competency of its users are required for E-learning
to be successful. The majority of medical students believe that e-learning can be
adopted in Indonesia and that their capacity to use electronic devices is good. However,
access to the internet remains a problem. On the other side, the pandemic has disrupted
the education process and mental health, with fears of being infected with SARSCoV-
2, the loss of opportunities to apply for specialty training, and the potential for
increased financial difficulties among medical students. Our findings can be used to
assess the current educational process in medical schools and maximize e-learning as
an alternative means of preparing doctors for the future.