Effectiveness of early clinical exposure in competency-based curriculum – A step forward

Background: Early clinical exposure (ECE), a newer concept introduced by the national medical council provide students with early exposure to clinical settings and patients, which can help them develop a better understanding of the health-care system and their role as future health-care providers. Aims and Objectives: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of ECE with the traditional method of teaching in physiology practicals, using blood pressure (BP) measurement as an example, among 1st-year medical students in India. Materials and Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted with two groups of 75 students each, with one group receiving ECE and the other group receiving traditional teaching. Both groups received theoretical lectures and demonstrations on BP measurement before the practical sessions. The students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes were assessed using a pretested and validated checklist. Results: The results showed that ECE was more effective than the traditional method in improving the students’ performance in BP measurement and communication skills. Moreover, feedback from the participants revealed that ECE improved their academic strength, clinical correlation to pre-clinical learning, sociocultural context of understanding the diseases, attitude, ethics, professionalism, and recognition of the need to learn clinical skills properly during preclinical practical sessions. Conclusion: Medical schools should incorporate the ECE as much as possible to enhance students’ clinical and communication skills and to make them recognize the relevance of basic sciences to clinical subjects in the upcoming years.