Students’ feedback on the foundation course in competency based medical education curriculum

Abstract

The Medical Council of India (MCI) has formulated a new Competency Based Medical Education (CBME) Curriculum for the Indian Medical Graduates with an objective of making medical education outcome based. A one month long Foundation Course (FC) is a hallmark of this CBME which is implemented during the first month of first professional MBBS studies. The objective is to acquaint, allay apprehension and prepare freshers for further studies using andragogical and heutagogical approaches. The MCI also released the guidelines for the medical colleges for uniform conduct of FC across the country. The FC was divided into six modules, i.e. Orientation Module, Skills Module, Community orientation module, Professional Development and Ethics Module (P and E), Enhancement of Language and Computer Skills Module, and Sports and extracurricular activities.1 A total of 175 hours were allotted to these modules. Like every institute, our institute also developed the implementation program and time-table of FC using MCI guidelines and taking into account the available resources.2,3 The FC at our institute was conducted from 1st August 2019 to 31st August 2019 and was meticulously planned and implemented. The effective implementation required committed efforts of 30 faculty members (12 Professors, 11 Associate Professors and 7 Assistant Professors), two language and one fine arts teacher, and 4 non-teaching members (Librarian, IT-personnel, Coach for sports and motivational Guru). The students were trained to write reflections daily in their log - books which are being analysed further.

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

“…with CPR and basic life support training having been adjudged as the most important topic by the students, computer skills, and language were adjudged as the least important ones. [ 3 ] Whereas, in the study by Dixit R et al ., first aid techniques were reported to have secured the highest score of 4.5 and sessions on computer skills, reflective writing, interaction and learning from mentor, and various teaching-learning methods got the lowest score of 3.8 each on a 5 point Likert Scale. [ 5 ] Further, study from Gujarat observed that students appreciated topics dealing with skill development namely communication skills, learning skills, first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and english proficiency.…”

“…in their study seeking feedback from students regarding their overall experience of a month long foundation course, where 22.3% and 41.9% students rated their overall experience as excellent and very good, respectively, 33.8% rated it as good, whereas the rest gave an unfavorable response. [ 3 ] In a similar study from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, 88.4% students gave a favorable response for the foundation course. [ 4 ] While as, in another such study conducted by Dixit R et al ., seeking the perception of students regarding 1 month-long foundation course on a 5 point Likert scale, an overall rating of 4.19 was obtained, indicating their high level of satisfaction with the course.…”

“…All these studies were done to evaluate the orientation program from students’ perspective alone;[ 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ] except for one which sought faculty's perspective as well. [ 12 ] As far as the course content is concerned, barring three recent studies which evaluated 1 month-long MCI recommended foundation course,[ 3 4 5 ] the rest were comparable to some extent only, as the foundation courses evaluated in those studies were not as exhaustive and comprehensive as ours.…”

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

“…This is similar to the findings of Khilnani AK et al who reported that students had a positive overall experience after attending the Foundation Course and appreciated the faculty members involved in the implementation of the same. 8 Dixit R et al also reported a high level of satisfaction of students with the course with an overall rating of 4.19 on a 5 point Likert Scale. 9 In our study the highest satisfaction was reported for the 'Field Visits' followed by the 'Skills Modules'.…”

“…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.…”