Samia Iqbal1* Abdullah Bilal¹, Muhammad Mujahid², Saleem Ullah³, Fatima Saba ZaFar⁴ and Mahlab Ijaz⁵

¹Department of Ophthalmology, The University of Lahore, Pakistan
²Ophthalmology Department Mayo Hospital Lahore, Pakistan
³Ophthalmology Department Lahore General Hospital, Pakistan
⁴MO Nephrology Department BVH Bahawalpur, Pakistan
⁵Islamia university Bahawalpur, Pakistan

*Corresponding Author: Samia Iqbal, Department of Ophthalmology, The University of Lahore, Pakistan.

Received: May 21, 2021; Published: June 30, 2022

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to know about the impact of corona virus outbreak on the academic, clinical and research activities of optometry students in Pakistan and changes in their social life.

Materials and Methods: A cross sectional survey was designed to find the changes in daily academic and clinical activities of optometry students during the lockdown period due to corona virus. As majority of institutions closed due to the pandemic, therefore an online survey was conducted to assess e- learning methods being used, student’s satisfaction with the teachers and teaching methods, availability of internet and studying infrastructure and changes in their social life.

Results: A total of 163 students participated in the online survey. 85 of them were male and 78 were female. 63 (38.7%) students were satisfied with online learning while 100 (61.3%) students were unsatisfied. According to 53 (32.5%) students their study workload has decreased, 67 (41.1%) said their study workload has increased. 43 (26.4%) thinks there's no change in their study workload. 78 (47.9%) students have proper access to online studying infrastructure while 85 (52.1%) don’t. 88 (54.0% students have enough skills to operate computer software. 90 (55.2%) students were satisfied with the measures taken by their institutions for online learning. 123 (75.5%) students were using zoom, 32 (19.6%) students were using Google meet and 8 (4.9%) were using other software for online learning. 107 (65.6%) students weren't able to carry their routine clinical and practical work while 56 (34.4%) were carrying their routine work. About 62 (38.0%) students were offered alternatives regarding their lab or clinical work while 101 (62.0%) weren't offered any alternative. 84 (51.5%) students were satisfied with online assessment and examination methods while 79 (48.5%) students weren't satisfied. Research work of 40 (24.5%) students was affected. In step with 39 (23.9%) students their social life wasn't affected in the slightest degree while consistent with 61 (37.4%) students partially affected and in step with 63 (38.7%) their social life was affected badly.

Conclusion: The COVID-19 outbreak is proving to be a positive disruptor offering an impetus to restructure the prevailing traditional establishment supported classrooms. The fast transfers to the web mode helped to preserve the consistency of optometry education services, efficiently fitting into this educational year's completion target. Not only did the dramatic shift to online education advantage optometry students, but this also created strength for continuing education for optometrist practice within the nation.

Keywords: Clinical and Research Activities; Students in Pakistan; Social Life of Optometry Students

References

Citation

Citation: Samia Iqbal., et al. “COVID-19 and its Impacts on Academic, Clinical and Research Activities and Changes in Social Life of Optometry Students in Pakistan".Acta Scientific Ophthalmology 5.7 (2022): 61-67.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2022 Samia Iqbal., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.