• Irena Zakarija-Grković, Aleksandar Stepanović, Davorina Petek, Marion Tomičić, Zlata Ožvačić, Venija Cerovecki, Igor Švab, and Vesna Homar.
• Department of Clinical Skills, School of Medicine, University of Split, Split, Croatia.
• Eur J Gen Pract. 2023 Dec 1; 29 (1): 22838312283831.

BackgroundThe countries of the former Yugoslavia have health and education systems with the same tradition but these have changed over the years. Little is known about how family medicine teaching transitioned from face-to-face to distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic.Objectivesto investigate student/teacher experience in transitioning from face-to-face to distance education.MethodsA cross-sectional, online survey was conducted among 21 medical schools of the former Yugoslavia between December 2021 and March 2022. Under/postgraduate teachers and students who taught/studied family medicine during the academic year 2020/2021 were invited to participate. Of 31 questions for students and 35 for teachers, all but nine open questions were analysed using descriptive statistics.ResultsSeventeen of 21 medical schools contributed data involving 117 participants representing all countries of the former Yugoslavia. At the beginning of the pandemic, 30%, 26% and 15% of teachers, students and trainees, respectively, received formal preparation in distance education. Of these, 92% of teachers and 58% of students/trainees felt they were not adequately prepared. Synchronous teaching was the main method used, with a third using hybrid methods. All participants were least confident about online assessment. More than 75% of respondents agreed that lectures could be kept online, not patient consultations or practical skills' classes.ConclusionTeachers used various old and new methods to provide learning opportunities despite COVID-19 constraints. Effective technology-based strategies are essential to ensure assessment integrity and enhance the learning environment.

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