Evaluation of the satisfaction of residents of the Internal medicine department of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences from combined education (virtual and face-to-face) in 2020

The Covid-19 disease pandemic has affected various aspects of life including medical education. Therefore, it has been inevitable to shift medical education programs towards "combined virtual and face-to-face learning and hybrid learning". In this regard, we activated a   virtual education system along with face-to-face training to improve the education of learners in the internal medicine department.

 A present quasi-experimental study without control group was performed on residents of the internal medicine department of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences residing in both Imam Reza and Ghaem hospitals from March 2020 to December 2021 by census. Virtual training started alongside face-to-face training. Student satisfaction was assessed using the Distance education learning environments survey (DELES) questionnaire, the validity and reliability of which have been assessed in previous studies. All learners who did not answer more than one of the 30 questions in the questionnaire and final year students were excluded from the study. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software (22).

 A total of 26 learners were participated in the survey, including 10 men (38.5%) and 12 women (46.5%) and 4 individuals with undisclosed gender. In this survey, the level of satisfaction with the new implemented integrated education program in the internal group was %66.66. The greatest scores given by the learners to the system belonged to the ability to share information and the opportunity to cooperate with other students.

The results of this survey showed that learners were very satisfied with the combined learning system as a part of their educational program. Improving learners' outcomes and feedback after moving to combined method of virtual and face-to-face training, despite all the constraints imposed during the Covid-19 Pandemic era, promises a brighter future in training programs of the internal medicine department.