Perception and reflections of second year medical students on attitude, ethics, and communication skills module on patient autonomy and decision making in a tertiary care teaching hospital

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Attitude, ethics, and communication (AETCOM) module is a new inclusion in the current medical curriculum. It is designed to improve the competence levels of undergraduate medical students with regard to their communication skills, demonstration of empathy, and resolution of ethical dilemmas. This study aims to assess the student’s perspective and reflections on the AETCOM module conducted by the pharmacology department. Methods: This was a cross-sectional observational study conducted for1 month involving 2nd year medical students of Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre. An internally validated questionnaire was used to assess student’s perspective on the AETCOM module. Student’s reflections were obtained from their logbook entry. The data obtained were analyzed in Microsoft Excel. Results: The mean score for overall benefit of the AETCOM module for all participants (n = 163) was 4.1 out of 5. In our study, 85.3% of students agreed that the AETCOM module helped them to understand about sociocultural, ethical, and medico-legal aspects related to case scenarios. About 89.6% of students found panel discussion to be effective tool to understand case scenarios better. About 88.3% of students agreed that the inclusion of module in the curriculum was good. The mean score for reflections for students was 6.2 on 10. Conclusions: Our analysis of student’s perspective and reflection about the AETCOM module showed that students understood about patient autonomy and decision-making better when case scenarios, role-play and panel discussion were used to teach them the module. Inclusion of the module into the regular curriculum increases the student’s participation and awareness regarding different clinical scenarios and equips them in a better way for future clinical practice.