Journal of Education and Health Promotion

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

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Tinju James
. Thekkuttuparambil Ananthanarayanan Ajith1 1
. Donia Joson
. Betsy Thomas 2

1 Department of Biochemistry, Amala Institute of Medical Sciences, Thrissur, Kerala, India

2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Amala Institute of Medical Sciences, Thrissur, Kerala, 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.

Keywords

Basic life support
competency
first aids
Indian Medical Graduate
skill
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 11, Issue 1
January 2021
Pages 1-6

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