Assessment of newly introduced foundation course for medical undergraduates: students' vs faculty's perspective

Abstract

Background and Objectives: In compliance with MCI's recommendation, a month-long Foundation Course was conducted in our institution in Aug’19. The present study was conducted to seek the opinion of the students and faculty regarding relevance of the topics included in the course to enable revisions to be made in designing the course for the subsequent sessions, to make it more effective and student-oriented. Methods: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conducted to seek the opinion of 100 students who underwent the Foundation Course and 35 faculty members who were involved in teaching the topics allotted. Results: Positive feedback was recorded from63% of the students and 69% of the faculty regarding the overall experience of the course. Among the different modules, Skills module was voted as relevant by majority (73%) of students, whereas a module on Enhancement of Language and Computer Skills was found relevant to the course by a mere 52% students. In contrast, module on Sports and Extracurricular activities was adjudged as most relevant while as module on Enhancement of Language and Computer Skills got the least positive feedback (81.43% vs. 60.36%, respectively) from the faculty. Interpretation and Conclusions: Foundation Course recommended by MCI for MBBS students at the entry level is a welcome step. This can further be made more beneficial by making necessary modifications in the planning of the course in light of suggestions received from the participants.

Perception analysis of first year MBBS students after attending the first one-month Foundation Course in a North Indian medical college

“…Three previous studies have reported similar feedback from the students but the feedback has not been quantified in two of the studies. 10,12 In one of the studies however, 49% students felt the need to reduce the duration of the Foundation Course 8 which is in sharp contrast with only 7.57% respondents giving this feedback in our study.…”

“…Previous studies have reported high level of appreciation for and satisfaction with the skills module sessions conducted during the Foundation Course. 8,10 Similarly, sessions on community orientation and field visits were perceived very positively by the students in a study conducted by Vyas S. et al 11 Few respondents recommended increasing the number of sessions on extracurricular activities and sports while two respondents felt that more types of sports should be included in the Foundation Course. Only 5 respondents (7.57%) felt that the duration of the Foundation Course should be reduced while 1 respondent pointed out the need to reduce repetition of topics between various sessions taken by different faculty members.…”

Perception of Students About Usefulness of Foundation Course in Medical Curriculum

“…Where N is the sample size, Z is the z-value, p is the proportion of population, q is (1 -p), and d is the margin of error. For the purpose of the study p was taken as 0.5 (based on the study of Shah, Kulkarni, Arode and Singh in a Govt Medical College in Maharashtra) and margin of the error was kept at 5% [3]. Using the finite population correction, the sample size was worked out as 255 or more at a confidence level of 95%.…”

“…A number of studies have also been undertaken to study the perception of the students about the course. Many considered it a welcome step by NMC, India to acclimatize the new MBBS students to the new professional environment [2,3]. Study carried out by Vyas, Joshi and Seth in a medical college in Ahmedabad, Gujrat revealed that the FC helped and prepared students to cope up with challenges of the MBBS course.…”