Virtual Learning Policies in Medical Sciences Universities during COVID-19; a Systematic Review

The educational system is one of the key areas affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to their sensitive nature, medical schools and health-related disciplines have been more significantly impacted by COVID-19. Therefore, aggregation and integration of educational policies applied in medical schools worldwide are essential for evidence-based decision-making by educational policymakers—the present study aimed to identify virtual learning policies in medical schools during COVID-19.

This systematic review of all published articles on virtual education policies in medical schools during COVID-19 until January 20, 2022, collected from five databases and the Google Scholar search engine. Overall, 38 articles are identified and analyzed using content analysis in MAXQDA 10.

The results are classified into three domains: Challenges, solutions, and advantages of virtual learning of medical sciences during COVID-19. Thirty-four challenges, 62 solutions, and 27 advantages are identified. Each domain is divided into five categories: learner, teaching-learning process, technical infrastructure, instructor, and evaluation.

Distance education policies need to identify the challenges of this type of education and apply a systemic model of interventions that include virtual clinical workshops, clinical simulation laboratories, flexible online resources, a gradual e-learning process, a system for sharing the virtual materials of instructors, and ways of improving students’ and instructors’ computer skills.