Developing a module for early clinical exposure: Experience of five years

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Curriculum Development
• Clinical Relevance

Background:

• Preclinical medical students often struggle to connect basic sciences with clinical practice, impacting engagement.
• The Medical Council of India introduced Early Clinical Exposure (ECE) in 2011 to address this curriculum gap.
• Institutions with prior experience, like our 'Clinical Observership' program since 2001, were better positioned to implement ECE effectively.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a structured Early Clinical Exposure (ECE) program.
• To assess student feedback on the ECE program's content and implementation.
• To understand the impact of ECE on preclinical medical students' learning and engagement.

Main Methods:

• Implemented a structured Early Clinical Exposure (ECE) program involving 10 clinical departments since 2013.
• Collected feedback from preclinical students and recent graduates (CRRI) who participated in ECE.
• Conducted manual content analysis of open-ended student comments, involving meaning unit condensation, coding, categorization, and theme derivation.

Main Results:

• 52 out of 70 responding CRRIs found ECE very helpful during clinical postings and internship.
• Students recommended increasing ECE hours and including more clinical departments.
• ECE demonstrated a significant positive impact across all learning domains, with a particularly strong effect on the affective domain.

Conclusions:

• The positive student feedback supports the effectiveness of ECE in enhancing clinical relevance and engagement.
• The National Medical Council's plan to integrate ECE into the syllabus is timely.
• Sharing our five-year experience can guide faculty in successfully implementing ECE for preclinical students.