Implementation of Foundation Program under “Graduate Medical Regulations 2019” for first professional MBBS students at a Medical College located in western India - A transformative learning experience

Abstract

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Introduction: Students enter new environment in medical colleges at around 17 years of age directly from school which can be challenging. Therefore, in Graduate Medical Regulations 2019 of India, attempt has been made to orient medical learners to MBBS program and provide them with requisite knowledge, communication, technical and language skills through a month-long foundation program. The purpose of this study is to share learning and to document feedback and best practices that would enhance the value and structure of the program in coming years. Methodology: Descriptive evaluation of the foundation program implemented at a medical college located in western India as per the guidelines of the Curriculum Implementation Support Program (CISP). This program was implemented by all medical colleges under the ambit of Medical Council of India from August 2019. Teaching-Learning Methods:Interactive sessions and assessment mainly based on reflective writing or by verbal/written feedback. To help in program evaluation and refinementa pretested semi-structured questionnaire administered to the students and faculty to gather their perceptions about various aspects of the course on a Likert scale of 1-5; 5-Strongly agree, 4-Agree, 3-Uncertain, 2-Disagree, 1-Strongly Disagree and three open-ended questions at the end of the course. Data was entered into Microsoft Excel 2007 and descriptive statistics utilized for interpretation of perceptions, themes and direct quotation used in the analysis. Take home Message: The enthusiasm, hard work and integrated effort by the faculty members who participated in the program were extremely important for the success of this course. It is learnt that the Foundation program highlights benefits, is a valuable vehicle for increasing students' overall confidence. There are challenges involved in operationalization viz; it requires more time and effort from faculty, at least in the initial phases of program development.