The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Academic Performance of Veterinary Medical Students

The current cross-sectional study was carried out to analyze the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the academic performance of veterinary medical students and researchers. An online google form questionnaire was used to invite veterinary students and researchers to answer the questionnaire. A total of 807 participants were from 86 different countries answered the questionnaire with an overall response rate of 94.1%. The participants were 50.1% males and 49.9% females. The age of participants ranged from 17 to 51 years, and the majority of them (85.0%) were undergraduate students while postgraduate students comprised 15.0%. The data showed that the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown affected the academic performance of most participants (96.5%) with varying degrees. The mean evaluation scores for the online education, in general, was 4.9 ± 2.4 while that for the practical parts was 3.7± 2.6. About 60.7% of participants evaluated the online learning in general with 1-5 of 10 points, while 77.9% of participants evaluated the online learning in practical lessons with 1-5 of 10 points. Although online education provides an opportunity for self-study. The main challenge online education faces in veterinary medical science is how to give practical lessons. Since most of the subjects are practical; therefore, it is not easy to learn it online. Students think that it is difficult to fulfill the veterinary competencies only with the online education system. Online education can be improved by making it more interactive, showing medical procedures in real situations, giving concise information, and providing 3D virtual tools to mimic the real situation.