Perceptions of Students on the Foundation Course for Allied Health Sciences

Introduction

Medical education in India is changing at a rapid pace. Innovative methods for teaching-learning as well as assessment are being tried and added. This has led to increased research in the field of medical education. This research has resulted in implementation of newer teaching and learning methods in medical education.¹

The students for Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) course are selected through selection criteria which are purely academic. They do not take other abilities like communication skills, group dynamics, interpersonal skills, etc. into account, in India.² These students enter the medical school at the tender age of seventeen. The school and pre-university atmosphere is different as compared to the atmosphere at medical school. The students must, therefore, adapt and get adjusted.³ Hence, the National Medical Council (NMC), formerly known as the Medical Council of India (MCI), which is the regulatory body governing medical education in India, rolled out the methodically planned one month Foundation course for the first year fresh MBBS students, from batch 2019-2020 onwards. This one-month course will act as an orientation and sensitization program for the new students. Various topics, sessions and activities related to attitudes and communication, national health problems, peer and faculty management, medical ethics, time management, stress management, sports and fitness, different learning methods, role of Indian medical graduate (IMG) in society, team skills, first aid, language skills, are to be included in this course.³ The students of Allied Health Sciences (AHS), also, similarly transition from the highly protected school environment to the challenging medical school environment. Hence, in our institution, we have started similar foundation course for AHS students.⁴ After two years of having conducted foundation course for AHS students, we planned this research to study students’ perceptions about the foundation course.

Material and Methods

This was a cross-sectional observational analytical study conducted at Father Muller Medical College, Mangalore. Ethical clearance from the Institution ethics committee was obtained. This study was conducted between September 2021 to December 2021. The study included students of various Allied health science courses, who attended the foundation course and consented to answer the questions. Students who joined late and could not attend the foundation course were excluded.

Foundation course was conducted for a period of one month in October and November 2021. The course consisted of several sessions on various topics. The sessions were taken using teaching-learning methods like didactic lecture using PowerPoint presentations, small group discussions, interactive lectures, hands-on workshops, group activities, etc. It included sessions related to the topics as mentioned below:

• Overall benefits of foundation course
• Duration of the foundation course
• Course and subject orientation and self-introduction
• Time and stress management
• Ethics and humanity in hospital practice
• Professionalism and confidentiality
• Gender sensitization and anti-ragging
• Communication, interpersonal and team skills
• Language command
• Hospital infection control
• Research methodology and medical writing
• Personal hygiene
• Fire safety and hazard management
• Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and First-aid
• Campus orientation and facilities
• Fundamental rights of citizens
• Sports and fitness
• Computer and information technology (IT) skills

A questionnaire was prepared for student perceptions on all the topics and the overall foundation course. The questions were validated by subject experts. The questions related to overall usefulness of the foundation course were closed ended questions with yes/no options. The questions related to the duration of the foundation course was closed ended question with long/adequate/ short options. The questions were based on a five-point Likert scale. A google form was prepared including all the questions and circulated among the students at the end of foundation course. Student responses were collected and analyzed using percentages and frequency.

Results

A total of 103 students responded to the questionnaire. Ninety-six (93.2%) students agreed that the foundation course was a memorable experience for them. One hundred and one (98.1%) students opined that the foundation course was useful and satisfactory. Ninety-one (88.3%) students agreed that the foundation course boosted their confidence as a paramedical student. Eighty-four (81.6%) students agreed that the foundation course reduced their anxiety related to transition to medical college. One hundred (97.1%) students responded that the foundation course helped them in developing a positive attitude towards the profession. Seventy-four (71.8%) students believed that the foundation course will improve their academic performance. Regarding the duration of the foundation course, seventy-seven (74.8%) students felt that it was adequate, sixteen (15.6%) felt that it was long, while ten (9.7%) students felt it was short. Students’ perceptions on various sessions included in the foundation course are summarized in Table 1.

Discussion

The duty of a medical school faculty is not only to teach the medical subjects, but also involves teaching the right attitude, appropriate behavior and communication skills which will help the students perform better as a healthcare worker.⁵

With the introduction of the competency based medical education (CBME), all the medical colleges have started conducting a foundation course which involves orientation of students to the campus, curriculum, and teaching programs, which prepares them for the following course.⁵ There are few studies on the perceptions of MBBS students on the foundation course. A foundation course on similar lines, for students of Allied health sciences was conducted in our institute which is first of its kind to the best of our knowledge. Hence, we conducted a study to understand the perceptions of students of Allied health sciences regarding the foundation course.

Students perceived foundation course as a memorable experience. Majority of them were satisfied with the overall conduct of foundation course. One-third of the students reported an improvement in language command and their communication skills after the course.⁶ Another study reported an improvement in communication skills in 34.4% and improvement in language in 37.8% of the students.⁷

In our study, majority of the students agreed that the duration of foundation course was adequate. In another study, majority of students responded that the duration of foundation course was longer.⁶ However, this would depend on the planning and conduct of the course. With interesting and engaging sessions, students will not feel fatigued or disinterested.

In another study,⁵ students were asked to grade the overall foundation course on a five-point scale from excellent to poor. Of 100 students, 67 graded it as very good, 16 as good and 15 as an excellent exercise. Only two students graded it as satisfactory and none graded it as poor. Further, as per the students, the factors that facilitated their learning were selection of good topics that covered important aspects, interactive sessions, experienced speakers/ faculty, and good presentations.

In a study on perceptions of students regarding the foundation course,² thematic analysis was done and some of the major themes that emerged were as follows:

1. A good program which helped me to get oriented with campus and learning environment.
2. The program helped me to develop confidence to face the challenging medical course.
3. I liked the whole program, especially sessions dealing with acquiring skills like learning skills, time management, coping with stress, first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation
4. We got to know each other. Overall, it was a very good beginning to the medical course.
5. Though lengthy, it was useful.
6. All medical colleges should have such a program.

In our study, 98% students agreed that foundation course was useful and satisfactory and 93% of the students responded that the foundation course was a memorable experience for them.

Conclusion

The success of any program depends on the response from stakeholders. The foundation course was well received by the students. The students responded that they enjoyed the foundation course, and it was useful for them. It boosted their confidence and reduced their anxiety. It helped them in better orientation to the course and campus. The limitations of our study are that we did not include more open-ended questions or reflections from students. Keeping this in mind, studies can be planned in future. We conclude that all colleges should consider a foundation course for the students of Allied health sciences like the CBME mandated foundation course for MBBS students.

Conflicts of interest

None

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank our management and all the faculty involved in the planning and successful implementation of the Foundation course.