Educational Response to COVID- 19: Faculty of Medicine and Allied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka (FMAS, RUSL)

It is vital that the higher education institutes maintain their ability to train undergraduates during the COVID-19 pandemic. Several novel measures were incorporated. The purpose of this article is to share the systematic approach that was taken by FMAS, RUSL during this pandemic. We used a systematic approach for teaching/learning, assessment and faculty development under main categories of

1. Leadership/Management of MBBS curriculum: Headed by the Dean of the faculty with support from the Medical Education Unit plays a pivotal role for planning, maintaining and evaluating online education.

 

2. Teaching/learning: An online teaching guide was developed taking into account the best evidences and contextual constrains. LMS was updated more student friendly

 

3. Assessment: emphasis on formative assessments

 

4. Physical and human resources: Focused on competence in using LMS by the staff, online instructional design and providing physical resources.

 

All activities were implemented through a team effort and ongoing evaluations are being done to assess usefulness of these measures. We hope this approach would be a useful reference for similar crisis events in the future.