Common challenges and coping self-efficacy of medical students after Covid-19 pandemic and (COVID-19 Reveals: What we don't know about our medical students)

Abstract

With the prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic, many social and personal aspects of people's lives have been affected, including the educational system and students, particularly those in the field of medical sciences due to the nature and requirements of their field. Objective: The present study aims to investigate the common challenges faced by medical science students after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and to evaluate their self-efficacy in coping with these challenges. Materials and Methods: The necessary data for this study were collected through the distribution of an online questionnaire among 906 medical science students in the target country, and the results were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: The data obtained from the information analysis indicate that one of the main concerns of medical science students is transmitting the virus to their family members (with an average of 3.91). However, the average score for family problems among these students was 2.32, which is lower than the average. Although the economic problems of medical science students were found to be lower than average (with an average score of 1.09), it has been shown that they were searching for income-generating methods during the pandemic. In addition, with the highest average score (4.31) corresponding to the response "I think I can only pass the final exam by relying on the published materials in the virtual system," these students also faced problems in the area of virtual education. Therefore, based on the data obtained, it can be concluded that medical science students have a desirable level of self-efficacy, which can be further increased by implementing appropriate solutions such as improving the conditions of virtual education.