Experience and Perceptions of Medical and Dental Interns on the Effects of the COVID- 19 Pandemic on their Internship Program- A Questionnaire Based Study in Makkah Region of Saudi Arabia

COVID-19 is a highly infectious disease caused by an RNA virus belonging to a large family of coronaviruses. WHO declared COVID-19 as a public health emergency and classified it as a pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic affected the medical education globally. Aim of the Study: The aim of the study is to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on the internship program. Materials and Methods: A cross‑sectional study was conducted among the medical and dental students of various universities in Makkah region of Saudi Arabia. A questionnaire consisting of 15 close ended, pre-tested questions was developed to determine the experiences and perceptions of medical and dental interns due to COVID-19. The data were tabulated and analyzed using SPSS version 21. Chi-square test was used to assess the experiences and perceptions among the Medical and Dental interns. P-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The study included 453 participants, out of which 253 were dental interns and 200 were medical interns. 231 (51%) of male interns participated in this study and 222 (49%) female interns participated. 140 (55.6%) and 138 (69.3%) of the participants of the dental and medical interns respectively felt COVID-19 affected options to select specialties of their interest for post-graduation, whereas, 112 (44.4%) and 61 (30.7%) of the dental and medical interns felt other way. Conclusion: Majority of the participants reported that COVID-19 did not affect them psychologically. In addition, most of the medical and dental interns felt covid -19 affected opinions to select specialties of their interest for post-graduation.