Distance learning in a medical university: experience, problems, prospects

The article reveals the problems of the transition of higher medical educational institutions to distance learning in this difficult period of the coronavirus pandemic and the socio-psychological features of the learning process. The forced transition to a self-isolation mode during the coronavirus infection (COVID-19) pandemic gave a powerful impetus to the introduction of distance learning tools into the system of medical university education. The use of digital technologies at various stages of the training of future doctors has its own characteristics, since many skills and abilities at the modern level of technology development cannot be fully acquired otherwise than in practical classes in a traditional, full-time form. This primarily relates to the development of various manipulations, operations, research, the acquisition of experience in communicating with patients, conducting examinations, maintaining medical records, etc. At the same time, the forced transition to distance education was the only reasonable alternative to traditional education in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The positive features of distance learning are a decrease in the level of stress, the choice of the optimal pace of mastering the material, the availability of information resources, the formation of self-discipline.