Abstract:

In Spain, the strict quarantine ordered by the government, which began on March 13, 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, caused the suspension of face-to-face classes in all educational institutions, although it was ordered that teaching would continue to be taught remotely, to the extent of the possibilities of each institution. At the Jaume I University (UJI) of Castellón, Spain, three main types of resources were available with some sufficiency: digital ones, since the UJI, since its foundation in 1991, has opted for the full incorporation of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in all its approaches (teacher, administrative, researcher); the margin of time to prepare transformations, since on March 13 a non-school period of one week began for local holidays; and the attitude and preparation of the teaching staff, as well as the collaboration of the students.

Specifically, in the Medicine Degree there was another additional impact: all clinical practices in hospitals and health institutions were completely suspended, with no possible alternative through virtual teaching. In addition, the professors assigned to hospitals were mobilized to attend to the incidents of the pandemic and, therefore, without availability for any type of teaching.

In this work we try to describe the initial situation that teachers and students encountered, both from an organizational and technological point of view. Then the strategies, tactics and techniques applied to solve the problems that arose are exposed, according to the guidelines and protocols issued by the UJI. And finally, the results obtained in terms of the efforts of teachers and students to carry out distance teaching on a daily basis are narrated.

Given that explaining all this for the set of undergraduate subjects exceeds the purpose of this work, we focus on two subjects: one of the first year, oriented to the application of ICT and introduction of the scientific method, but without hospital practices; and another of the last courses, with a large proportion of hospital practices.

The teaching experience acquired in this five-month period (March to July 2020) has made it possible to improve and refine the design of the current 2020/2021 course in the Medicine Degree, blended in teaching.

Keywords:

Face-to-face learning versus distance learning, Covid-19 impact on professors, Strategies and rules, Degree in Medicine.