The medical education system all over the world is witnessing a paradigm shift from traditional methods of teaching to competency-based medical education. With the current curricular change, teachers are supposed to play a catalyst role in terms of moderating the different frameworks of competency-based medical education (CBME). Following the implementation of the new curriculum in India ( 2019), the present study aims to understand the challenges that medical teachers face in its implementation. Materials and methodsThis nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted among 297 teaching faculty representing 91 medical colleges across 20 states between February and July 2020. A self-validated structured questionnaire on the views of the newly implemented competency-based medical curriculum was prepared, uploaded as a Google form link, and circulated to medical teachers through an electronic platform across the country The faculty responses were exported and analyzed using Microsoft Excel. ResultsAround 77.4% opined that making incremental changes to the old curriculum would have been better than the overhaul revision, and 85.6% have opined that input from more faculty must have been taken before implementing the new curriculum. Around 80% felt that the pace at which faculty are getting trained in the nodal/regional center is not adequate, and 75% of them believed that the faculty members are not adequate for preparatory work for CBME implementation. About 74.7% opined that framing specific learning objectives (SLOs) for all competencies is time-consuming. ConclusionIt is the need of the hour for the curriculum to incorporate a systematic feedback mechanism built into the system. Despite the fact that many of the suggested changes are progressive, given the time and resource constraints, this can only be accomplished through the concerted and combined efforts of all those involved in medical education.

Objective: This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of vestibular stimulation on motor coordination in Parkinson’s disease (PD) induced mice. Methods: 18 healthy adult male Swiss albino mice were used in this study. Vestibule was stimulated by caloric vestibular stimulation (CVS). Pesticide Rotenone was used to induce Parkinson’s disease (PD). Motor coordination was assessed by the fall-off time and the activity score using the rotarod and actophotometer, respectively. Results: In the rotarod test, there was a significant increase in the fall-off time (p<0.01) in the CVS PD group (131.63±18.34) on the 30th day when compared to the PD group (95.33±15.17). In the actophotometer, the activity score improved in the PD CVS group on the 15 (235±47.09) and 30th days (251.38±25.76), while there was no improvement in the PD group. This shows the significant effect of caloric vestibular stimulation on motor coordination in Parkinson’s disease. Conclusion: This study confirms that caloric vestibular stimulation with hot water resulted in the improvement of motor coordination in PD. Hence this study certainly merits further studies with a higher sample size to confirm the effect of caloric vestibular stimulation on the enhancement of motor coordination in individuals with Parkinson’s disease.

BACKGROUND: A novel innovation in medical education was initiated by the Medical Council of India after 21 years. Competency-based medical education (CBME) is an effective outcome-based strategy, which requires integration of knowledge, attitude, skills, values, and responsiveness. The aim was to assess the students’ perspectives on competency-based medical curriculum. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 1st year MBBS students (2019–2020 batch). A validated questionnaire was administered through Google link among phase I medical students of various medical colleges across India by multistage sampling. RESULTS: A total of 987 students from 74 medical colleges in India responded. Nearly three-fourths opined that foundation course (FC), attitude ethics communication module, and early clinical exposure were necessary. Horizontal integration was more appreciated to vertical integration. Maintaining log books was perceived as time-consuming and cumbersome. CONCLUSION: The CBME when meticulously adopted will inspire student enthusiasm for learning. Few reforms such as curtailing the duration of FC, diffuse sessions on stress and time management, better synchronized vertical integration, and an exemplary implementation of adult learning techniques can be undertaken.

Objective: This prospective study was conducted to provide an authoritative database for beneficial effects of vestibular stimulation, a simple non-invasive method to alleviate the behavioral changes in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Methods: Vestibule is stimulated by caloric vestibular stimulation (CVS). Pesticide Rotenone is used to induce PD. Open field test and elevated plus maze were used to access learning, memory, and behavior. Results: Behavioral scores were taken before and after stimulation of the vestibular system. The scores were significantly different between rotenone-induced PD, control, and hot water vestibular stimulation groups (p<0.05). Conclusion: This study categorically confirms that CVS with hot water causes behavioral changes in PD. This study certainly merits further studies with higher sample sizes to confirm the effect of CVS for enhancement of learning, memory, and behavior in patients with Parkinsonism.

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