Barriers and facilitators to online medical and nursing education during the COVID-19 pandemic: perspectives from international students from low- and middle-income countries and their teaching staff

Table 1 Students’ personal characteristics

Characteristics	Number (percentage)
Gender
Male	82 (35.7%)
Female	148 (64.3%)
Age
17–19	43 (18.7%)
20–22	129 (56.1%)
23–25	58 (25.2%)
Major
MBBS	207 (90.0%)
Nursing	23 (10.0%)
Year of study
1st year	52 (22.6%)
2nd year	50 (21.7%)
3rd year	55 (23.9%)
4th year	38 (16.5%)
5th year	35 (15.2%)
Countries of origin
Asian countries^a	130 (56.5%)
African countries^b	100 (43.5%)
Current residence
Inside China	77 (33.5%)
Outside China	153 (66.5%)
Facilities used for online learning
Mobile phone	164(71.3%)
Computer/notebook	50 (21.7%)
Pad	16 (7.0%)
Total	230 (100%)

^aParticipants in our study were from 10 Asian countries, including Bangladesh, India, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Syrian Arab Republic, Timor-Leste and Yemen, Rep
^bParticipants in our study were from 20 African countries, including Botswana, Comoros, Congo, Rep., Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe

ISSN: 1478-4491