Early clinical exposure in medical education: the experience from Debre Tabor University

BACKGROUND: The idea of early clinical exposure in Ethiopian medical schools is a young concept. Old and newly established universities across the nation are shifting towards incorporation of early clinical exposure (ECE) in their curricula. Debre Tabor University introduced ECE in undergraduate medical education from inception. This study generated evidence on students’ experience and academic leaders’ reflection on early clinical exposure implementation. OBJECTIVE: This study was carried out to investigate medical students’ perception towards early clinical exposure and its implementation process by instructors in undergraduate medical education at Debre Tabor University. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey design that combines quantitative and qualitative methods was conducted in 2021. We asked fifth year medical students (42) to complete a self-administered questionnaire on 5-point Likert scale. The data were supplemented by semi-structured interview with 6 purposively selected academic leaders on the factors that facilitate or impede early clinical exposure implementation. The quantitative data were entered and analyzed using SPSS 20 to compute frequency, median and interquartile range. The qualitative data were analyzed thematically. RESULTS: The study findings suggest that early clinical exposure (ECE) has a positive impact on the development of students’ professional knowledge, problem-solving skills, motivation, active learning, and community orientation. Specifically, 64.3% of the surveyed students believed that ECE was effective in constructing their professional knowledge, while 52.4% felt that it improved their problem-solving skills and facilitated constructive/active learning. Additionally, 57.1% of students reported that ECE improved their motivation and 50% noted that it facilitated community orientation. The study also identified several barriers to the implementation of ECE, with the heavy workload being the most commonly mentioned (78.6%). Other challenges included a loose linkage between academic and healthcare institutions (59.5%) and a lack of orientation on the implementation process (35.7%). Academic leaders reflected that ECE was beneficial in familiarizing students with the clinical environment, but staff commitment was crucial for its successful implementation. The study also found that heavy workload, lack of assessment dedicated to ECE on the curriculum, and poorly oriented staff about the program impeded its implementation. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The findings of this study suggest that early clinical exposure was beneficial learning method. Teachers’ commitment to their roles with adequate preparation, and the contribution of curriculum in providing the learning objective and cases for each session were factors that facilitate effective implementation of ECE. Heavy workload and poor orientation about the program could impede ECE implementation.