Perception of first MBBS students from a medical college in Ahmedabad, Gujarat about one month’s foundation course during the year 2019

Perception Of First MBBS Students About One Month’s Foundation Course

Abstract

Background: Medical Council of India (MCI) has introduced Foundation Course (FC) in the undergraduate medical curriculum from the admission year 2019 in view of GMER 2019. The students admitted for MBBS course during the year 2019 were the first batch exposed to such kind of program. Medical students come from varied backgrounds and require a bridge for transition from school to a professional course. Aims: To study the perceived learning of medical students during FC about various modules and their competencies in the very first year of its implementation. Materials and Methods: Predesigned and pre-tested questionnaire was used to assess the self-reported learning perception of FC among the newly admitted first MBBS students during the year 2019. Five modules of FC were assessed (except sports and extra-curricular activity). Overall impact of FC was also assessed. Five-point Likert scale was used to assess the perceived learning by the students. The survey was carried out on the last day of the FC i.e. 31-08-2019. Data so collected were entered in Microsoft Excel and analysed for percentages, proportions, mean, standard deviation etc. Results: Responses of 189 out of total 200 students were obtained on the day of survey and subsequently analysed. Mean score of perception of students about learning during FC for all the five modules ranged from 3.8 to 4.5. Overall impact of FC was assessed by using five questions. Maximum i.e. 96 (50.8%) students strongly agreed that it led to confidence-building before start of the formal learning of medical subjects followed by 81 (42.9%) students who strongly agreed that the transition to medical college was smooth due to FC. Conclusions: Early response and feedback regarding the introduction of FC in undergraduate medical curriculum is overwhelming. The self-perception of learning during FC by the students is having higher agreement. [Vyas S Natl J Integr Res Med, 2020; 11(1):72-78]