Students’ perceptions on newly designed foundation course at MBBS entry level: A mixed-method study

BACKGROUND: Selection of students to medical colleges is based on merit of candidate at written entrance examination which does not take care of nonscholastic abilities of the students. Medicine is a profession that requires not only mastery of large body of knowledge and clinical skills but also high standards of professionalism and appropriate attitudes. METHODOLOGY: A 1-month long foundation course was conducted for the fresh students admitted to MBBS course at Andaman and Nicobar Islands Institute of Medical Sciences, Port Blair, India. Seventy-four students had joined the course. The course was planned, arranged, and executed by the department of Medical Education Unit. It included six modules. Retrospective pre- and postevaluation was done for knowledge, skill, and attitude. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for all pair-wise comparisons. Participants also completed a questionnaire (Likert scale and some open-ended items) about educational quality of sessions and utility of the course. Descriptive statistics and qualitative methods were used for data analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Response rate was 100%. Students perceived foundation course as an excellent opportunity to acquire basic knowledge, attitude, and skills required for subsequent phases in MBBS course. This Foundation Course enhanced their orientation to the curriculum and campus, boosted confidence to cope up with the challenging syllabus, helped them develop time and stress management skills, and also sensitized them to achieve the highest standards of morale required to ensure ethical practice.