TY - JOUR
T1 - One-month long foundation course for newly joined Indian medical undergraduates
T2 - Faculty and students' perspective
AU - Pandey, Arvind Kumar
AU - Prabhath, Sushma
AU - Nayak, Kirtana R.
AU - Andrade, Lydia
AU - Prabhu, Krishnananda
AU - Nayak, Veena
AU - Kalthur, Sneha G.
N1 - Funding Information:
Heartfelt thanks to all the faculty of the Departments of Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, and Medical Education for helping in executing this one-month long foundation course. Special thanks to our former Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Poornima Baliga, former Dean, Dr. Pragna Rao, and the present Dean, Dr. Sharath K. Rao, for their guidance and encouragement. The authors are also indebted to Dr. Muralidhar M Kulkarni, Associate Professor of Community Medicine for his support carrying out the thematic analysis.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/2
Y1 - 2021/2
N2 - Background: A one-month long foundation course has been introduced at the entry-level for first-year MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) students in the medical institutions across India from 2019. Therefore, the present study is aimed at describing the experience of implementing a one-month long foundation course conducted for the Competency-based Undergraduate Medical Curriculum (CBUC) of Indian Medical Graduate as per the guidelines from the National Medical Commission (NMC) (erstwhile Medical Council of India, MCI). We have evaluated the student and faculty perceptions towards the effectiveness of the program. Methods: The foundation course had six modules Orientation, Skills, Field visit to Community Health Centre, Professional Development including Ethics, Sports and Extracurricular activities, Computer Skills, and Language enhancement program. Regular feedback wascollected from students (N = 250) and teachers (N = 26) involved in the Foundation course using a semi-structured questionnaire. The program's overall feedback was also obtained at the end of the course, using a validated questionnaire. The quantitative findings were expressed in frequency and percentage. The qualitative observations (reflections of students and faculty) were subjected to thematic. Results: The students and faculty appreciated the one-month long foundation course. The course's defined objectives were met as indicated by most students (98.4%) and faculty (75%). The course seemed to be useful for students to embark on a formal MBBS curriculum. It also exposed them to new knowledge and practices, as indicated by the feedback. Thematic analysis of the students' and faculty's reflections was carried out and two themes were identified, i.e., ‘strengths’ and ‘challenges.’ The Foundation Course Committee will work out appropriate remedial measures to overcome the challenges in the future sessions for subsequent batches. Conclusions: The one-month-long foundation course was found to be beneficial for newly joined students to get introduced and adjusted to higher education systems' demands. Also, the challenges faced during the program needs to be addressed with suitable remedial measures while implementing for subsequent batches. This effort will ensure a smooth conduct of the foundation course for the future batches of medical undergraduates and make the program more effective.
AB - Background: A one-month long foundation course has been introduced at the entry-level for first-year MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) students in the medical institutions across India from 2019. Therefore, the present study is aimed at describing the experience of implementing a one-month long foundation course conducted for the Competency-based Undergraduate Medical Curriculum (CBUC) of Indian Medical Graduate as per the guidelines from the National Medical Commission (NMC) (erstwhile Medical Council of India, MCI). We have evaluated the student and faculty perceptions towards the effectiveness of the program. Methods: The foundation course had six modules Orientation, Skills, Field visit to Community Health Centre, Professional Development including Ethics, Sports and Extracurricular activities, Computer Skills, and Language enhancement program. Regular feedback wascollected from students (N = 250) and teachers (N = 26) involved in the Foundation course using a semi-structured questionnaire. The program's overall feedback was also obtained at the end of the course, using a validated questionnaire. The quantitative findings were expressed in frequency and percentage. The qualitative observations (reflections of students and faculty) were subjected to thematic. Results: The students and faculty appreciated the one-month long foundation course. The course's defined objectives were met as indicated by most students (98.4%) and faculty (75%). The course seemed to be useful for students to embark on a formal MBBS curriculum. It also exposed them to new knowledge and practices, as indicated by the feedback. Thematic analysis of the students' and faculty's reflections was carried out and two themes were identified, i.e., ‘strengths’ and ‘challenges.’ The Foundation Course Committee will work out appropriate remedial measures to overcome the challenges in the future sessions for subsequent batches. Conclusions: The one-month-long foundation course was found to be beneficial for newly joined students to get introduced and adjusted to higher education systems' demands. Also, the challenges faced during the program needs to be addressed with suitable remedial measures while implementing for subsequent batches. This effort will ensure a smooth conduct of the foundation course for the future batches of medical undergraduates and make the program more effective.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.mjafi.2021.01.002
DO - 10.1016/j.mjafi.2021.01.002
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85100268748
SN - 0377-1237
VL - 77
SP - S146-S156
JO - Medical Journal Armed Forces India
JF - Medical Journal Armed Forces India
ER -