Ujjwal Bandyopadhyay1, Ranjana Bandyopadhyay2, Abhay Mudey3
BACKGROUND
Medical education curriculum in India focuses on the clinical skills of the medical
students as cornerstone, but patient and patient party dealings and to work as a
member of health care provider team, one requires communication skills,
interpersonal skills, management skills, professionalism and ethics. Teaching
learning methods (TLM) for imparting module of professionalism and ethics have
to be innovative and nonconventional also. In the present study, we tend to assess
the effectiveness of exposure to realistic clinical scenarios in pathology
department, in teaching medical ethics and professionalism, to undergraduate
medical students.
METHODS
This is an experimental, interventional study that included 200 students. All have
attended “just-in-time” lectures on attitude, communication, professionalism and
ethics (AETCOM) delivered by faculties. After the 15 days of lecture session, all
the students were assessed about their skill of AETCOM by conducting objective
structured practical examination (OSPE). In the next phase exposure to realistic
clinical scenarios in the Departmental laboratory of Pathology, under the guidance
of faculties was also arranged. After the exposure session to real life scenario, all
the students were assessed about their skill of AETCOM again by conducting OSPE
and their performance was compared with the previous OSPE score. Feedback
from the exposed students was also taken in prescribed proforma of 7-point Likert
scale.
RESULTS
Mean pre exposure OSPE score was 18.66 and mean post exposure OSPE score
was 27.22. The result shows that the difference was significant (P < 0.001). 38.5
% students were extremely satisfied with the experience of exposure to real life
situation in pathology lab and 50 % students were very satisfied with the
experience of exposure. In the present study, mean learning gain is 77 %.
CONCLUSIONS
Professionalism and ethics should neither be introduced in isolation from other
medical graduation course contents nor be assessed so. It should be coherently
assimilated with the current curriculum.
