Deciphering Learning Motivation in Open Distance Learning towards Sustainable Medical Education

Open distance learning has become a new norm in medical education since the COVID-19 pandemic. The abrupt shift from conventional medical education to fully virtual learning deserves a reflection on how it affected the learning motivation among medical students. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the effect of open distance learning on their learning motivation during this pandemic period, with suggestions to improve through reflections and recommendations. This qualitative study involved 152 medical students undertaking the Doctor of Medicine program in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia, during the COVID-19 pandemic. All data were collected through a validated questionnaire. We found that medical students portrayed intrinsic motivation—mainly self-motivation, self-discipline, and self-adaptation—in open distance learning during the pandemic period. Feedback from medical students also showed that they advocated a better internet connection, innovative teaching, and learning, as well as new appropriate assessment methods and strengthening of the learning management system for a sustainable open distance learning outcome. Hence, medical educators should be creative in making use of open distance learning as an attractive complementary platform in medical education to ensure life-long learning.