CURRENT COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND MEDICAL EDUCATION: OPPURTUNITIES AND CHALLENGESIN ON LINE CLINICAL TEACHING AT COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, SOHAR OMAN

Clinical teaching is a form of interpersonal communication between a teacher and learner. It mainly involves a patient or a patient scenario; student learns how to evaluate a patient and manage the problem. The ideal clinical teaching and learning is done in patient care area but because of COVID-19 pandemic outbreak all clinical and class room teaching is suspended now. Online teaching is an acceptable mode of teaching; it can offer more diverse and effective educational opportunities. Medical students in clinical years are supposed to be independent, self-directed learner to motivate and facilitates in depth learning with maximum hands on practice. Patient encounter gives a better opportunity for medical students to acquire appropriate medical knowledge with diversity of cases and management approach. There is a serious and disruptive change to medical education worldwide in this pandemic and the use of technology has been rapidly and innovatively used in an attempt to maintain teaching and learning. While pandemics have brought significant disruption and challenge, therefore we have organized a webinar teaching opportunities for our students. The current COVID-19 pandemic is affecting healthcare institutions in ways that may disrupt the training of future health care professionals.