• Examining the challenges caused by the corona pandemic in medical universities
  • mohammadsouri,1,* Fatemeh Mombeni Kazemi,2
    1. Student Research Committee, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran
    2. Student Committe of Medical Education Development, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran


  • Introduction: The 2019 coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has brought about many changes in all walks of life and affected the world’s medical education system, leading to changes in the conventional teaching methods in most universities. This has especially affected all aspects of education at different levels of education. In line with the management and control of these challenges, solutions have been proposed, many of which can be used in the post-pandemic era. This review examines the challenges, solutions, and achievements caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the field of medical education.
  • Methods: This study was conducted using the narrative review method. After studying and evaluating 55 original articles and systematic reviews in international databases and websites: PubMed, Sid, Scopus, Google Scholar, and ISI, and through an advanced and extensive search using the keywords "medical education" and "COVID-19" "students" "Pandemic" during the years 2019 to August 2023 among these retrieved articles in the stages of title, abstract, and full text, finally 20 selected articles were determined and examined.
  • Results: The findings show that during the pandemic, there were several factors as educational obstacles to educational goals. These factors are classified into four different areas: environment (institution), faculty members, students, and patients. Among these factors, educational barriers related to academic staff constitute the biggest barrier. Acute care programmes with a lack of teaching time have been identified as the most common and relevant barrier to medical education. Subsequently, inappropriate educational environments and insufficient monitoring models have also been identified as educational obstacles. Other challenges include a lack of technology skills, poor time management, and inadequate infrastructure. Due to the rapid development of technology, healthcare education systems must also evolve along with it.
  • Conclusion: Regardless of the critical conditions of COVID-19, it is critical to identify the challenges and provide crisis management solutions to get out of the crisis, and to pay attention to the opportunities and capacities behind the crisis. Each of the four groups plays an important role in the education process, and efforts should be made to establish proper coordination and cooperation between them.
  • Keywords: medical education, COVID 19, pandemic, students