chandigarh almost half of the medical students 4642 have lost interest in medicine after suspension of physical classes during the covid lockdown says a study conducted by a few medical students from chandigarh and other statesa team of doctors dr arshi syal dr yajur arya and dr monica gupta of the department of general medicine government medical college and hospital chandigarh conducted a study to ascertain the effect of the pandemic on undergraduate medical education according to the study which has been published in indian journal of medical sciences almost half 4642 of the students reported decreased interest in medicine after suspension of handson teaching or practical classesa total of 136 respondents 6938 felt that they became less productive in studies during the pandemic approximately 74 respondents felt less motivated to study at home more than twothirds of the respondents felt that on graduation their clinical skills would be inferior to those of students who graduated during the noncovid era about 8469 students believed that their examinations should be postponed hoping to get appropriate clinical experience once the situation normaliseda total of 400 medical students were sent the online questionnaire by email of whom 196 medical students responded a total of 84 students were residing in hostels 4285 on the college campus while the rest were day scholars only 2244 44 of respondents found video lectures to be better than classroom teaching while 98 respondents 50 felt that they were still acclimatising to the new method of learning through online classes almost three quarters of students felt that their motivation to study had decreased as their curriculum shifted from in person to online the study aimed at highlighting that the covid pandemic had a dramatic effect on undergraduate medical education all over the world and this effect was most noteworthy on medical students as clinical orientation and handson training are crucial for development of basic medical skills box conclusionmost of the students felt less motivated and less productive amid the transition a major area that has been compromised is that of clinical skills training a crucial adjunct to theoretical teaching in medical schools almost all students believe that their clinical skills in the longterm would remain inferior to those who graduated before the pandemic