M. saadati
F. Kazemi
S. Taheri
P. Isfahani
M. afshari

Abstract Background and aim: The educational system is one of the key areas affected by the COVID-۱۹ pandemic. Due to their sensitive nature, medical schools and health-related disciplines have been more significantly impacted by COVID-۱۹. Therefore, aggregation and integration of educational policies applied in medical schools around the world are essential for evidence-based decision-making by educational policymakers. The present study aims to identify virtual learning policies in medical schools during COVID-۱۹. Method: This study is a scoping review of all published articles on virtual education policies in medical schools during COVID-۱۹ until January ۲۰, ۱۴۰۰, collected from five databases and the Google Scholar search engine. Overall, ۳۸ articles are identified and analyzed using content analysis in MAXQDA ۱۰. Findings: The results are classified into three domains: challenges, solutions, and advantages of virtual learning of medical sciences during COVID-۱۹. In total, ۳۴ challenges, ۶۲ solutions, and ۲۷ advantages are identified. Each of these domains is further broken down into five categories: learner, teaching-learning process, technical infrastructure, instructor, and evaluation process. Conclusion: Distance education policies need to identify the challenges of this type of education and apply a systemic model of interventions that include virtual clinical workshops, clinical simulation laboratories, flexible online resources, a gradual e-learning process, a system for sharing the virtual materials of instructors, and ways of improving students’ and instructors’ computer skills. The proposed model of virtual education describes the different dimensions of virtual education policy and responds to the needs of policymakers.

Educational Policy, COVID-۱۹, Virtual Education, Medical Schools