Introduction:

The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic led global health institutions to recommend the adoption of restrictive measures such as the closure of educational facilities. Educational institutions were forced to suddenly adapt to emergency distance learning methods, with little time for preparation. The students also faced challenges such as relying on the internet and remaining isolated at home. Medical and health science schools also had to adapt to this new model to humanized practices.

Objective:

To evaluate the perceived use of emergency distance learning by students at a state university health sciences and medical school during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Method:

This is a descriptive and exploratory study, with a cross-sectional design and quantitative approach, involving the application of a questionnaire containing closed questions. The questionnaire was divided into four topics: sample characterization, conditions for internet use, study site conditions, and student perception of the use of distance learning.

Result:

The study included 480 students from the nursing, medicine, and dentistry courses at the Amazonas State University. Most of these students used their home wifi, with regular signal quality. Students from smaller, inner state towns were the most disadvantaged by inconsistent internet connections. Students were mainly in their bedrooms when they attended the and pointed to losing concentration easily as the main detrimental factor of the remote classes. Most students disagreed with the effectiveness of assessments for this type of learning,and rated the experience with remote teaching as unsatisfactory. However, most students agreed that it is possible to learn theoretical content with quality through distance learning.

Conclusion:

The Covid-19 pandemic brought about a sudden change of scenery. The new educational model, using distance learning, has brought new challenges for teaching. The results show that the factors that hindered the students were the instability of their internet connection and difficulty in maintaining concentration during distance learning classes. Students found it easy to clarify doubts about the classes with the teachers; the system proved adequate for the teaching and learning of the theoretical content.

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