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Korneeva E, Strielkowski W, Krayneva R, Sherstobitova A. Social Health and Psychological Safety of Students Involved in Online Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:13928. [PMID: 36360806 PMCID: PMC9655240 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192113928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2022] [Revised: 10/23/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Our paper focuses on the issues of social health and psychological safety of university students involved in digital sustainable education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, modern education is becoming inclusive due to the advancements in information and communication technologies (ICT), and it is important not only to stress the relevance of sustainable development and the use of digital technologies, but also their impact on students at schools and universities worldwide. Digital literacy is a newly emerging feature that results from the attitude of team members in the field of digital technologies. This paper explores the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on students' learning and well-being and outlines the potential considerations for educational systems as they support students through the recovery period and beyond. Our study is based on the results of our own survey that was administered using a snowball and convenient sample of 1524 respondents (aged 19-26 years; 56.2% females and 43.8% males) from the Czech Republic (N = 804) and Russia (N = 720). We employed the ANOVA and Dirichlet Process mixtures of Generalized Linear Models (DP-GLM) in order to explain the causes of stress and anxiety after grouping variables represented by gender and the study specializations. Our results demonstrate that more than 87% of the students in the sample expressed a medium to high vulnerability to stress, while 58% of the respondents were affected by severe anxiety during their online education engagement. The most important factors that emerged as significant were the fear of getting infected and social distancing, while the best strategy to cope with the stress was self-control. These results allow us to provide practical recommendations for effectively coping with and controlling stress and anxiety among students in the post-pandemic era. In addition, our findings might contribute considerably to the study of the overall long-term effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the university students, in general, and the use of digital technologies in higher education, as well as on the public health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Korneeva
- Department of Mass Communications and Media Business, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Leningradsky Prospekt, 49, 125993 Moscow, Russia
- Institute of Finance, Economics and Management, Togliatti State University, Belorusskaya str. 14, 445020 Togliatti, Russia
| | - Wadim Strielkowski
- Department of Trade and Finance, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 16500 Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Raisa Krayneva
- Department of Mass Communications and Media Business, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Leningradsky Prospekt, 49, 125993 Moscow, Russia
| | - Anna Sherstobitova
- Institute of Finance, Economics and Management, Togliatti State University, Belorusskaya str. 14, 445020 Togliatti, Russia
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Mahjoub H, Vasavda C, Bertram A, Davison A, Sozio S. The perceived impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical students' future careers. F1000Res 2021; 10:1211. [PMID: 36896392 PMCID: PMC9989541 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.73249.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/16/2023] [Indexed: 02/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted medical education on multiple levels, and medical students have been forced to adjust to distance learning, altered clinical opportunities, and standardized testing inconsistencies. We sought to identify the effects of these dramatic deviations on medical students' career plans. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of medical students between July 13, 2020, and September 9, 2020 in order to assess the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on students' career decisions. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all variables. Results: Of the 585 eligible medical students, we had a final sample of 76 responses (n=76) (13% response rate). Students felt neutral regarding having more time to explore research projects (Mean ± SD; 3.06 ± 1.18) and hobbies (3.43 ± 1.28). Most survey respondents somewhat disagreed that they considered quitting medical school during the pandemic (1.55 ± 1.10). Students somewhat agreed that they view the field of medicine more positively since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (3.60 ± 1.09). Respondents somewhat agreed that they would be unable to explore other specialties and find their best fit (3.55 ± 1.32). We found that the minority (4/66, 6%) of students had considered changing their specialty. Students felt neutral in terms of their Step 1 (3.25 ± 1.05) or Step 2 (2.81 ± 1.02) score deterring them from future career opportunities. Conclusions: Most medical students have experienced barriers in their career pathway as a direct cause of COVID-19 restrictions on medical education, including the ability to explore different specialties to discover their best fit or find a chance to network with mentors. However, despite these obstacles, most students remain committed to medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heba Mahjoub
- Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205, USA.,Department of Opthamology, New England Eye Center, Tufts Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Chirag Vasavda
- Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205, USA.,The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205, USA
| | - Amanda Bertram
- Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205, USA
| | - Ashwini Davison
- Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205, USA.,Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205, USA
| | - Stephen Sozio
- Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205, USA.,Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205, USA
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