ArticlePloS one2023
Is online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic associated with increased burnout in medical learners?: A medical school's experience.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Virtual Learning in Emergency Medicine Residency Programs.Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open · 2025Article
- Comparing the impact of online and in-person active learning in preclinical medical education.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- The impact of learner background variables on academic burnout in online vs. face-to-face classes among students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences having English courses.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThe COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a shift to virtual curriculum delivery at Canadian medical schools. At the NOSM University, some learners transitioned to entirely online learning, while others continued in-person, in-clinic learning. This study aimed to show that medical learners who transitioned to exclusively online learning exhibited higher levels of burnout compared to their peers who continued in-person, clinical learning. Analysis of factors that protect against burnout including resilience, mindfulness, and self-compassion exhibited by online and in-person learners at NOSM University during this curriculum shift were also explored.
methodsAs part of a pilot wellness initiative, a cross-sectional online survey-based study of learner wellness was conducted at NOSM University during the 2020-2021 academic year. Seventy-four learners responded. The survey utilized the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Brief Resilience Scale, Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale-Revised, and the Self-Compassion Scale-Short Form. T-tests were utilized to compare these parameters in those who studied exclusively online and those who continued learning in-person in a clinical setting.
resultsMedical learners who engaged in online learning exhibited significantly higher levels of burnout when compared with learners who continued in-person learning in a clinical setting, despite scoring equally on protective factors such as resilience, mindfulness, and self-compassion.
conclusionThe results discussed in this paper suggest that the increased time spent in a virtual learning environment during the COVID-19 pandemic might be associated with burnout among exclusively online learners, as compared to learners who were educated in clinical, in-person settings. Further inquiry should investigate causality and any protective factors that could mitigate negative effects of the virtual learning environment.
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