Relationship between Digital Learning Engagement, Peer-Study Practices, and Academic Performance among MBBS Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Medical education in Pakistan is gradually adjusting to changes in how students’ gain access to and process and apply knowledge. While the MBBS curriculum continues to rely heavily on face-to-face teaching, the learning environment surrounding students has expanded beyond the classroom. Universities and affiliated teaching hospitals now operate within a setting where digital platforms, recorded lectures, online academic content, and informal peer networks play a visible role in everyday learning practices. These developments have prompted educators to reconsider how learning actually occurs outside scheduled teaching hours. Current medical students’ study with and rely on resources provided and available digitally, accessing them to supplement traditional instruction in classroom teaching. This may include online lecture recordings, other educational videos, and mobile applications, which have become increasingly commonly to revise or study complex topics or explain concepts introduced during lectures. In addition to provided platforms such as through the LMS, students frequently also use publicly available information, in the form of digital content, that is in particular, digitally available educational material shared through video-based or social media platforms. The study finds that students’ peer-study practices have also changed over time and with more and more students relying on messaging application to clear concepts and create online discussions, the traditional peer study library groups have evolved not only distance but also with the help of online and digital forums that encourage digital peer study engagement, rather than one on one in person interactions. Such evaluations may be conducted later to correlate knowledge with student passing/failing, or their performance, to deem them ready for clinical applied medical training; however, digital learning engagement and peer study may still informally persist and continue unassessed, as part of continuing medical education practices, as required by the accreditation council guidelines for adult education.