
Impact of a Module on Early Clinical Exposure in Pharmacology: A Prospective Interventional Study from a Medical College in West Bengal, India
Correspondence Address :
Dr. Sarmila Nath,
BB 11/G, Salt Lake, Bidhannagar, Kolkata-700064, West Bengal, India.
E-mail: sarmilanath13@gmail.com
Introduction: The National Medical Commission (NMC) has introduced the concept of Early Clinical Exposure (ECE) in the undergraduate medical curriculum to provide some clinical relevance to what students are studying in their preclinical years. Past studies conducted across different disciplines have proven the effectiveness of ECE sessions. Against this background, a module on ECE was designed and implemented among Phase 2 students studying Pharmacology at a Medical College in West Bengal, India. The perceptions of participating students and faculty regarding the module were obtained through feedback forms.
Aim: To evaluate the impact of a module of ECE for teaching the topic on anaesthetic drugs to undergraduate medical students studying Pharmacology.
Materials and Methods: The study was conducted over a period of three months at a medical college in West Bengal. A total of 180 Phase 2 students studying Pharmacology and six faculty members from the Departments of Pharmacology and Anaesthesiology participated in the study. Following informed consent and sensitisation, students were randomly divided into a control group and a study group. The study group was exposed to ECE sessions, followed by lecture classes involving both the study and control groups. The impact of the ECE sessions on knowledge gain was assessed through a formal test one week after the lecture classes. Perceptions from students and faculty were obtained through a Google Form containing semiclosed questions. Quantitative analysis was conducted using the Independent t-test, Chi-square test and percentages as appropriate. Following the entire process, faculty members from both departments held a meeting to discuss the challenges in implementing the module and how to overcome these barriers in the future.
Results: There was a significant increase in knowledge among the study group (p-value: 0.0018) compared to the control group. About 155 (86.1%) of students considered the module to be an effective learning tool and 138 (76.7%) students opined that the sessions were well planned. A total of 66.67% of faculty members believed that this module of ECE could be implemented in the curriculum.
Conclusion: The current module on ECE had a positive impact on the participating students. With a few modifications, it could be included in the undergraduate Pharmacology curriculum in the future.
Education, Students, Clinical contact
DOI: 10.7860/JCDR/2025/75632.21090
Date of Submission: Oct 17, 2024
Date of Peer Review: Dec 07, 2024
Date of Acceptance: May 05, 2025
Date of Publishing: Jun 01, 2025
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: Oct 18, 2024
• Manual Googling: Jan 03, 2025
• iThenticate Software: May 03, 2025 (8%)
ETYMOLOGY: Author Origin
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