Perception analysis of an early clinical exposure module in anatomy for first year undergraduate medical students in a North Indian medical college

Abstract

Early clinical exposure as a part of vertical integration is an intervention that bridges the gap between the basic and clinical sciences. It can be achieved by exposing undergraduate medical students to clinical cases at an early stage. This study was conducted with an aim to introduce first professional MBBS students to clinical cases in Orthopaedics as a part of an early clinical exposure module in Anatomy and to analyse its impact and feasibility. Methodology: A prospective, cross over, intervention was conducted to introduce 139 first year MBBS students to patients in Orthopaedics OPD. Feedback and perceptions regarding the module were obtained both from the students and the participating faculty. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data was conducted. Result: Students perceived the early clinical exposure module very well. They agreed that it had helped them in understanding the applied anatomy of the topics and found it to be interesting and motivating. Students were motivated for self-directed learning and an overwhelming majority of respondents agreed that more topics should be covered in similar modules. Conclusion: Early exposure to clinical aspects of basic sciences provides a structured setting for clinical correlation of knowledge and learning the importance of communication skills. This is an innovative interactive teaching strategy which is feasible to conduct and improves learning outcomes.

Faculty perception on clinical shadowing: A concurrent mixed methods study

“…Regarding faculty members’ calibration to participate in the CSP, mixed responses were obtained from the respondents, with the majority agreeing on its importance. This finding was similar with other studies that mandated calibration for successful implementation of integrated curriculum 14,19,21 . Half of the respondents mention that CSP requires additional resources, and that a lack of these resources might be a barrier to successful implementation.…”

“…Assessing the students’ perception regarding the CSP is warranted. Participating faculty in this study reported that clinical shadowing is feasible for all the disciplines, in contrast to a study where participating faculty agreed that early clinical exposure is not feasible for all the disciples 19 …”

“…Faculty members of a medical school in the same country in which this study was conducted also expressed the need of coordination between basic and clinical science educators. 19 In the present study, faculty with less than a year of teaching experience (n = 10; 14%) were not familiar with CSP. The schedule of CSP coincides with the beginning of the academic year for first and second year predoctoral students.…”

“…Based on this study's findings, integration through the CSP was perceived to be useful to students by a majority of the faculty members. Similarly positive perception of early clinical exposure was shared by other studies in healthcare professions in various countries 2,14,19 . However, one of the faculty disagree, and other five faculty members share neutral opinion that CSP is well appreciated by students.…”

“…Providing a platform for regular interactions between basic and clinical science faculty may change this perception. Faculty members of a medical school in the same country in which this study was conducted also expressed the need of coordination between basic and clinical science educators 19 …”