Satisfaction, effectiveness, and interaction of online teaching of community course among medical students of Al-Qunfudhah college of Medicine, Saudi Arabia.

Background: Online teaching established to play a significant role in medical education. Much research discusses eLearning satisfaction, interaction between medical students and academic staff. This study aimed to investigate satisfaction of medical students at Al-Qunfudhah medical college, Umm Al-Qura University toward online teaching of undergraduate community course and to evaluate the effect of gender and GPA grades on students’ attitude.
Methods: Online questionnaire delivered to Al-Qunfudhah medical students of fifth year who studied community medicine course through social medial (WhatsApp). It is formed of four main compartments measured demographic distribution, online students’ satisfaction, effectiveness, and interactivity. Data of study were analyzed by SPSS software version 27.0.
Results: Our work included 78 medical students 41males and 37 females. 43(55.2%) of students satisfied with community online learning, 48(62.5%) of them see that eLearning matching their life, and 39(50%) of the students not stressed during online teaching. Out of 78 students 49(62.8%) of them satisfied with community eLearning and 29(37.2%) not satisfied. 63(84.5%) of the students believed that online learning is very effective, and 68(87.1%) of the participated students agreed that eLearning is very interactive. GPA level significantly affects students’ satisfaction towards online learning (p-value = 0.029). Meanwhile, 31(39.7%) of female students significantly (p-value = 0.043) reported the effectiveness of community eLearning
Conclusion: Majority of medical students reported satisfaction, effectiveness, and interactivity of community course online teaching. Meanwhile, students’ attitude to traditional education is the same to online learning.