Analysis of feedback from first-year undergraduate medical students who attended foundation course at a teaching institution in South India

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Medical Council of India has suggested competency-based curriculum for undergraduate students to make it learner centric. One-month “Foundation course” was introduced at the beginning of the course to promote better adaptation to the new curriculum. A cross-sectional study was conducted to analyze the feedback from students who attended the foundation course. MATERIALS And METHODS: All first-year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery students who underwent 1-month foundation course were included in the study. The course was conducted in six modules. All the sessions were handled by efficient resource people and conducted in an interactive manner. A form in which response against each topic/talk was graded as average, good, or excellent was used to obtain the feedback. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences 16 software. Responses among various modules were subjected to Chi-square two-sided test with Yates's correction. RESULTS: A total of 98 students (32 males and 66 females) attended the foundation course of 21 days. Among the modules conducted, basic skill training module was scored excellent (67%) remarks, followed by sports and extracurricular activities (64.6%) ( P = 0.8806). Among the skill training module, both basic life support training and first aid on medicine/pediatrics achieved 92% excellent score. One of the orientation module sessions, research methodology, scored least. The descending order of excellent remarks was skill module > sports and extracurricular activities > field visit to the community and primary health center > orientation modules > enhancement of language. CONCLUSION: Attention should be given to include more topics concerned to the modules of skill training and extracurricular activities in upcoming years. Foundation courses can increase the confidence and better adaptability of the students toward a new environment.

Perception of Students About Usefulness of Foundation Course in Medical Curriculum

“…For improvement of the course, like the findings of our study where students recommended increasing skill component, James T, Ajith TA, Joson D, Thomas B also recommended to include more topics concerned to the modules of skill training and extracurricular activities [14].…”

Foundation course – A fundamental requirement for Indian medical graduates as per graduate medical regulations

“…The modules include the orientation module, skills module, field visit to community health center module, professional development and ethics module, enhancement of language and computer skills module, and sports and extra-curricular activities module. [8,9] These modules are fulfilled over 175 h.…”

“…Parameters such as time management, completion of defined objectives, level of interaction, adequacy of AVaids, and infrastructure were considered using close-ended statements. [6,8,[11][12][13] The students were also asked to specifically comment on any suggestions for the future as open-ended questions. Some students pointed out the need to include research-related orientation sessions.…”