Ayan Kumar Pati1, Leelavati Thakur2, Sachin Damke3
BACKGROUND
Basic life support (BLS) although a lifesaving skill, is seldom taught in the first year
of traditional Indian undergraduate medical curriculum resulting in lack of
competence and confidence. Medical Council of India’s new competency based
undergraduate curriculum stresses on early skill acquisition. Basic life support
hands-on workshop can be a simple yet effective educational intervention in
achieving the goal. The aim of the study is to determine the effectiveness of
introduction of BLS training workshop to first year MBBS curriculum as a part of
foundation course skills development.
METHODS
An interventional study in the form of BLS workshop consisting of lecture,
demonstration and hands on practice on mannequins was conducted on first MBBS
students. Assessment was done by standardized pre- and post-test questionnaire
and direct observation of procedural skills (DOPS). Student’s perception was
qualitatively explored by conducting focus group discussions (FGD) followed by
thematic analysis.
RESULTS
Analysis of median pre- and post-test scores using Wilcoxon test matched pairs
signed rank test revealed highly significant gain in knowledge and confidence (P
value = 0.000). Thirty three percent students could perform all the seven steps of
cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) correctly, meeting all six quality indicators
indicating satisfactory skill acquisition. Six overarching themes emerged from the
focus group responses viz. importance of clinical skill acquisition in first year,
suggested methods to improve skill training, effectiveness of BLS workshop,
usefulness of learning BLS skill, readiness to perform CPR in real life scenario and
need for curriculum reformation.
CONCLUSIONS
Simulation-based hands-on workshop can serve as an effective teaching learning
strategy for foundation course BLS skills development under new competencybased
first MBBS curriculum by Medical Council of India (MCI).
