Aneeja1, Phani Madhavi Kajana2, Devi Madhavi Bhimarasetty3
BACKGROUND
In compliance with Medical Council of India (MCI) recommendation, a month-long
foundation course was introduced for the first time in Andhra Medical College for
first year MBBS students of 2019 batch during August 2019. The aim of the study
was to assess skill in standard precautions among first year MBBS students after
foundation course.
METHODS
An observational cross-sectional study was carried out among first year MBBS
students who attended basic skill training sessions on universal precautions as a
part of their foundation course in a Government Medical College, Vishakhapatnam,
who were admitted during the academic year 2019. In the present study, objective
structured clinical examination (OSCE) is used in order to assess the skill. Students
were asked to demonstrate 5 selected skills of standard precautions i.e. hand
washing, wearing of cap, mask, apron and gloves. Their performance was noted
in the checklist provided and was assessed accordingly. Data obtained from
checklist was entered into excel sheet and was expressed in percentages. The
difference in skill acquisition between boys and girls was tested for statistical
significance using chi-square test.
RESULTS
Out of the 94 students who participated in the study, 54 % were boys and 46 %
were girls. Only 19 % of students have demonstrated all the 5 skills correctly.
Majority of the students i.e. 71 % were able to demonstrate 7 steps of hand
washing correctly. About 44 % of the students demonstrated the donning of gloves
correctly. About 66 % of students demonstrated the technique of wearing
operation theatre mask correctly. Regarding wearing of surgical cap, 70 % of
students did it correctly. 83 % of students demonstrated donning of apron
correctly. In all skill demonstrations, boys performed better than girls and this
difference was found to be statistically significant except in case of donning of
apron.
CONCLUSIONS
The study findings indicate that imparting skill training to first year students has
been beneficial to the students in terms of gaining skills related to universal skills.
However, most of the students haven’t yet got the desired competence in all the
procedures. Repeated training in their early clinical exposure may help them to
develop the skills further.
