Abstract

Objective: To evaluate students’ perception of clinical encounters and its short and long term impact on their performance.
Methodology: This cross sectional study was conducted at Shifa College of Medicine from 2014 2018. Ophthalmology clinic rotations were introduced during 2nd year MBBS special senses module in 2014 (i.e. Class of 2017). Students’ feedback was taken on a self-designed questionnaire based on five-point Likert scale. Paired sample t test was used to compare the mean score for practical exam of SPS module for class of 2017 with class of 2018 and 2019. Mean scores for the ophthalmology end of clerkship rotation clinical exams in 4th year were again compared. p< 0.05 was taken as significant.
Results: The study included 88 students; 59.1% male and 40.9% female. Majority of them had an encouraging attitude towards early clinical exposure. Mean scores in SPS module for class of 2017 were significantly better when compared to class of 2018 & 2019 (p˂0.001 for both years). However, this difference was not maintained in long term during clerkship rotations exam (p=0.435, and 0.316 for class of 2018 and 2019, respectively).
Conclusion: Students perceived the early clinical exposure as an effective way of education and this was also reflected in their scores

Key words: Clinical skills, undergraduate medical education, early clinical exposure, student feedback.