. Sabita Yograj; . Anjali Nadir Bhat; . Rajiv Kumar Gupta; . Geetika Gupta; . Leela Kalsotra
Volume 9, Issue 9 , September 2019, , Pages 1-6
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Advances in scientific research necessitates updating of the curriculum andthe Medical Council of India now Board of Governors have proposed a new competency‑basedundergraduate ...
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BACKGROUND: Advances in scientific research necessitates updating of the curriculum andthe Medical Council of India now Board of Governors have proposed a new competency‑basedundergraduate curriculum for the Indian Medical Graduate. The authors wanted the views of medicalstudents about basic sciences teaching in the form of feedback, their perceptions and attitudes towardthe basic sciences and their opinions about the relevance of these subjects, and finally any ideasabout improvement in teaching of basic sciences.MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present cross‑sectional study was conducted in two medicalcolleges of Northern India and 250 medical students from each medical school were the studyparticipants. Students of the 1st year were not included, but interns were included. A pretestedquestionnaire having twenty questions with answers in the form of “yes” and “no” was used. Chi‑squarewas the test of significance.RESULTS: Almost all the participants considered the basic sciences as an integral part of medicalcurriculum and a higher number of Government Medical College respondents opined that theirknowledge made it easier to understand clinical subjects (P < 0.05). However, higher proportion ofASCOMS (Acharya Shri Chandra College Medical Sciences) of respondents emphasized that thefocus should be on clinical subjects and that current student–teacher ratio be increased (P < 0.05).Majority of the respondents labeled Anatomy having the immense syllabus, while Physiology wasdesignated as more relevant and having a better recall during clinical discourse (P > 0.05).CONCLUSION: Basic sciences lay strong foundation for subsequent clinical learning. Medicaleducation is best taught with hybrid use of lectures, tutorial, group discussions, audio‑visual aids, andintegrated teaching. The new proposed competency‑based curriculum and the Attitudes, Ethics andCommunication Module are likely to improve the overall medical education and health‑care scenario.