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INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a broad direct impact on education, and at the same time it has significantly changed students' lives. This study examines how Slovenian medical students experienced the shift to distance-based education following multiple lockdowns. METHODS: The aim of this study is to examine experiences of medical students about distance-based education in the period of multiple lockdowns in 2020/2021. We used focused interviews to collect data. The questionnaire was developed in the following manner: the first set of questions was developed after studying the literature from Slovenia and abroad about distance-based education in higher education during COVID-19 lockdowns. The researchers then discussed this set to narrow the topics. In addition to preformulated questions, additional sub-questions also typical for focused interviews were asked as part of the research. We carried out a qualitative study using a qualitative content analysis method to analyze the data. RESULTS: Sixteen interviews were conducted. We defined four categories summarizing students' experiences with distance-based education during the COVID-19 pandemic: 1) technical issues, 2) organization of distance-based education, 3) social exclusion of students, and 4) suggestions for improvement. The categories are exclusive and represent individual topics for further analysis of students' experiences with DBE during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results are supported by quotes from the interviews. CONCLUSIONS: Medical students' experiences with DBE mainly revealed shortcomings in computer literacy. Technical issues were largely an indicator that significantly marked students' transition to DBE. Another important finding is that medical students emphasized problems related to social exclusion. Students made suggestions for improvements that broadly relate to the higher education system, and not only to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to analyze the perception of dental faculties students regarding the complete transition to distance-based education (DE) and the adaptation of this educational strategy, due to Covid-19 pandemic. A questionnaire to be completed anonymously was submitted online to students attending the faculties of Dentistry and Oral Hygiene at Sapienza, University of Rome, after the end of distance lessons. The collected data were processed statistically, providing descriptive data and analysis of correlation of the most significant parameters, using Chi-squared test, Cramér V and Pearson φ2, Goodman and Kruskal's γ and λ and Kendall's τb. The level of statistical significance was p < 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 314 students participated in the survey. The overall level of satisfaction on a ten- point scale was 5.39 ± 2.59 for Oral Hygiene students and 6.15 ± 2.98 for Dentistry students. The most common complaints were the lack of a structured online curriculum, less interaction with professors and a lower level of attention. On the basis of the responses, scored using Likert-type Scale, oral Hygiene students reported statistically higher level of physical fatigue(p = 0.0189), a lower level of attention (p = 0.0136) and of the quality and quantity of acquired knowledge during distance education (p = 0.0392), compared to Dentistry students. Level of perceived stress and quality and quantity of acquired knowledge (γ = 0.81 and τb =0.56) and quality and quantity of acquired knowledge and fear of a decrease in knowledge (γ = 0.76 and τb =0.54) are associated variables. CONCLUSION: Students' feedback is essential to solve the key issues emerged from the questionnaire. New educational models should be define in order to ensure that distance education could be effective, meeting the learning needs of the students, and could not be a merely "online shift" of traditional methods, used as an alternative of live education.