Abstract
Background: As COVID-19 pandemic reached Saudi Arabia, emergency disaster protocols were implemented to control the spread of the virus, which resulted in limitations on all public movements, including the dosure of educational institutes. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on education, social life, and mental health among medical students during COVID-19 restrictions. Methods: A cross-sectional study with a sample size of 1253 medical students from various universities in different regions in Saudi Arabia was conducted. Survey data were obtained from social media platforms using web-based self-administered questionnaires. Results: This study revealed large acceptance of online classes (64.1% of students), however, students reported less opportunities to both collaborate with colleagues, and ask questions during online dasses. Improved student's education skills including time management, self-monitoring for academic progress, access and using different types of information sources, and multitasking was demonstrated. Regarding effect of COVID-19 on students' social and habitual life, 52.9% reported satisfaction with utilization of their time, however, 52% stated socially not well connected, 36.3% never engage in physical activity, 42.4% reported increased body weight, and only 25% were able to sleep as usual. Social media platforms were at the fore front in using to overcome loneliness feeling and communicate with others. Conclusions: Positive impact of COVID-19 on education was demonstrated in terms of the large acceptance of online dasses and improvement of education skills. However, negative impact on social life was established including poor social communication, disturbed sleep habits and poor engagement in physical activity.