The spread of the coronavirus disease known as COVID-19 is a public health emergency with economic and social ramifications across the world.

Institutions around the world including International Higher School of Medicine (IHSM) are responding to travel bans and quarantines with a shift to online learning.

There are two kinds of online learning and teaching at IHSM that are being balanced based on the circumstances: synchronous (happening collaboratively and at the same time with a group of online learners, usually a teacher),  and in addition to the first,  asynchronous (happening at any time, not necessarily in a group, but with teacher feedback) as an additional session.