Harnessing Competency Based Medical Education: Early Clinical Exposure by Live Patient Demonstration in Integrated Preclinical Undergraduate Curriculum

Abstract

Introduction: Early Clinical Exposure, a teaching-learning methodology, promotes exposure of medical students to patients in the first professional year, orienting them towards clinical environment and helping them to correlate their theoretical knowledge with real life situations. Aim: The study aimed to generate understanding of a clinical setup early in undergraduate medical training, address student perception by learning temporomandibular joint anatomy and introduce the concept of integration of basic and clinical sciences. Methodology: A randomized controlled trial of 100 first year medical students was performed. After a conventional lecture of all students, they were randomly divided into two groups of 50 students each. Control group was taught by the conventional cadaveric demonstrations whereas study group by Early Clinical Exposure using live subject demonstration at the department of Dentistry. Both groups were assessed by a pre- and a post-test in the form of multiple choice questions. Post-interventional feedback (5 point Likert scale) was taken from the study group. The scores were statistically assessed by paired and unpaired Student‘t’ test and feedback was evaluated by Chi Square Goodness of fit test.Results: Post test scores of the study group were significantly greater (7.48 ± 0.83) as compared to the control group (5.78 ± 1.02). In regards to the student perception, the responses favoured an extremely positive impact of Early Clinical Exposure. Conclusion: Early Clinical Exposure proves to be an effective integration tool and a successful learning adjunct to enhance the performance of fresh medical entrants thus helping them to become competent practitioners.

Keywords: Early Clinical Exposure, Integration, Medical Education, Competency Based Medical Education, Temporomandibular Joint, Anatomy, Dentistry