Background: The spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has posed great threat to the global population’s health and nearly every medical school throughout the world suspended classes as a precaution against the virus. This study is aimed at exploring a more advanced online teaching and learning pattern for medical school in the future especially during a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) and to evaluate the efficacy of the teaching methods in improving students’ professionalism, knowledge and learning skills including problem analyzing and solving, teamwork skills, self-directed learning, as well as adaptability and acceptance to the courses. Methods: : Fifty fourth-year medical students receiving the “5+3” pattern courses regarding internal medicine were enrolled in the study. A five-point Likert scale questionnaire that contains 20 items was used to compare the effect between online TBL via 5G network (hereinafter referred as blended teaching model) and home-based online learning which is not based on TBL via other prevalent forms of wireless internet connection(hereinafter referred as traditional online teaching model). It evaluated the network environment and indices of students’ competencies we put forward based on six core competencies Results: : According to the descriptive statistical analysis of the first part of the questionnaire (question 1-16), the average score of adaptability and acceptance of the courses is 2.60 less than 3, indicating that students are more adapted to traditional online teaching model;the average score of the rest of the questions is greater than 3, indicating that blended teaching model is superior to traditional online teaching model. The number of male students who are inclined to blended teaching model is 0.13 times as much as that of female students (95%CI:0.028~0.602, p=0.009). Conclusion: Online TBL via 5G network is a more advanced online teaching and learning pattern for medical school and may be a more suitable method during PHEIC in the future.
Thoughts on Higher Medical Education Under Major Public Health Emergencies: Thinking Ahead After COVID-19 Outbreak —— A Descriptive study