Date Posted: June 10, 2026

Author/s: Naomi S. Nocheseda, MD, FPPS and Eva I. Bautista, MD, MSc, FPPS

Objective: To determine the experiences, perceived benefits and barriers of online learning in Pediatrics of the medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Design: Cross-sectional descriptive study

Setting: Far Eastern University- Dr. Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation School of Medicine

Participants: Second year to fourth year medical students

Main outcome measures: Experiences, perceived benefits and barriers of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic

Results: Two hundred fifty seven medical students were included with a response rate of 68%. Their mean age was 24.8 years. 71.2% were female, 47.9% were third year, 46.3% were second year, and 5.8% were fourth year medical students. 98.5% came from the National Capital Region. 79.8% used mobile data. 77.8% of the students (n= 200) did not find online learning useful for their assessment preparation in clinical skills. For asynchronous activities, students considered asynchronous activities such as video links (n= 181, 70.4%) useful for their learning. Synchronous activities such the use of power point slides (n= 228, 88.7%), small group discussion for history taking, physical examination, diagnosis, and management (n= 237, 92.2%), and scientific conferences (n= 217, 84.4%) were most useful in learning. 70% found online learning to be interactive. The cost of gadget and internet subscription were not extra burden for most students during the pandemic (n = 198, 77%). Although they found synchronous lectures lengthy (n=153, 59.5%) and online learning lacking in student feedback (n=168, 65.4%), they gave them more time to study (n= 175, 68.1%) and to engage in other activities or hobbies (n=183, 71.2%) from time saved from travel. Students were divided as to whether online learning developed or improved their resilience during a crisis like COVID-19 pandemic or not (n= 133, 51.8% vs n=124, 48.2%, respectively). 95.7 % of students (n= 246) did not find online learning superior to traditional method and 85.6 % of the students (n =220) did not have high over-all satisfaction on online learning. The perceived benefits included provision of recorded lectures, which made it easy for them to go back and go through the lecture at their preferred time (92.2%), learning at their own pace (85.2%), and flexibility without place limitations (76.7%). The perceived barriers were distractions at home (94.2%), poor, interrupted, or slow internet connectivity (n=144, 56%) and time-constraint both on topics covered and requirements (80.5% and 79.4%, respectively).

Conclusion: Online learning in pediatrics develops the medical students’ discipline for self-directed learning, but is not considered superior to traditional method. Video links are the most useful among the asynchronous activities while it is the small group discussion for synchronous one. It lacks student feedback. Students are divided as to whether online learning developed or improved their resilience during a crisis like COVID-19 pandemic or not. Students do not have a high over-all satisfaction in online learning. The perceived benefits include provision of recorded lectures, which make it easy for them to go back and go through the lecture at their preferred time, flexibility in learning at their own pace without place limitations, and engagement in other activities. Barriers include internet connectivity concerns, distractions at home and time-constraints on topics and requirements

Keywords:
COVID-19 pandemic, online learning