Prospects and Challenges of e-learning among Medical Students in Lahore, Pakistan

Objective: The main objective was to assess the perception regarding the effectiveness of online learning and factors that affect the education of medical students. Study design & setting: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Central Park Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan. Methodology: 386 medical students from the first to final year of MBBS were included in the study by using a simple random sampling technique. A self-designed questionnaire was used. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.72. Exploratory factor analysis was used to observe the structure of items in the questionnaire. Responses were given in the form of frequency and percentages. Data was analyzed using SPSS 26. Results: The mean age of the participants was 22.29 + 1.92. More than half of the medical students who participated in the study favoured online teaching as effective. A statistically significant association was found between the number of hours daily spent on-screen use with self-directed learning and the number of hours spent on Internet Explorer with feelings of confidence about e-learning. Conclusion: The perception regarding the effectiveness of online learning was found to be moderately effective among the majority of medical students