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Learnings and Reflections on Transition to New Competency-based Medical Education, MBBS curriculum in Microbiology: A Cross-sectional Observational Study
Correspondence Address :
Himani Bhardwaj Pandya,
Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, Smt. B.K. Shah Medical Institute and Research Centre, Sumandeep Vidyapeeth An Institution Deemed to be University, At & Po. Piparia, Ta. Waghodia Dist., Vadodara- 391760, Gujarat, India.
E-mail: himani22pandya@yahoo.com
Introduction: Conventional teaching in microbiology revolved around the study of microorganisms without clinical relevance. Therefore, a New Competency-based Undergraduate (UG) Medical curriculum (New CBME) was rolled out in the academic year 2019 to make Indian Medical Graduates more clinically competent yet globally relevant.
Aim: To assess the impact of the change in curriculum on students’ performance and desired educational outcomes before and after the implementation of the new curriculum. Likewise, the study aimed to analyse the experiences and reflections of medical teachers towards these amendments.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted on 82 students from the second year Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) with a traditional curriculum and 74 with the new Competency-based Medical Education (CBME) curriculum at the Department of Microbiology, Smt. B.K. Shah Medical Institute and Research Centre, Piparia, Vadodara, Gujarat, India, between February 2020 and November 2021. In both batches, topics from core as well as non core areas of various systems were included along with the Attitude, Ethics and Communication (AETCOM) modules. A comparison of both groups was done, and Chi-square values and p-values were calculated.
Results: The batch with the new CBME curriculum was able to provide a provisional diagnosis for a case-based question better than the Traditional batch {n=60/74 (81%) vs n=44/82 (54%), p-value=0.0005, significant}. However, the correct aetiology, pathogenesis, and laboratory diagnosis were written better in the traditional batch compared to the new one, n=44/82 (54%) vs n=24/74 (32%). Regarding the AETCOM skills, the new batch had a better understanding of proper communication and ethics, i.e., 73/74 (99%), p-value<0.00001, Significant, while 66/82 students (80%) of the traditional batch and 67/74 (90%) of the new batch were aware of confidentiality issues. In viva voce, the new batch showed a lot of confusion regarding the names, types of micro-organisms, and the laboratory diagnosis of diseases caused by them compared to the traditional batch (p-value <0.00156, significant).
Conclusion: After implementing the new CBME curriculum to undergraduate students and analysing the feedback of teachers and the performance of students, it was felt that an appraisal of the new curriculum is required for a satisfactory outcome in microbiology so that microbiology content can be incorporated with clinical relevance.
Bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery, Comparison, Competency based education, Microbiology
DOI: 10.7860/JCDR/2024/68438.19481
Date of Submission: Nov 02, 2023
Date of Peer Review: Jan 29, 2024
Date of Acceptance: Apr 24, 2024
Date of Publishing: Jun 01, 2024
AUTHOR DECLARATION:
• Financial or Other Competing Interests: None
• Was Ethics Committee Approval obtained for this study? Yes
• Was informed consent obtained from the subjects involved in the study? Yes
• For any images presented appropriate consent has been obtained from the subjects. NA
PLAGIARISM CHECKING METHODS:
• Plagiarism X-checker: Nov 07, 2023
• Manual Googling: Feb 15, 2024
• iThenticate Software: Apr 22, 2024 (8%)
ETYMOLOGY: Author Origin
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