Implementing foundation course for the first time-qualitative analysis of medical students' feedback and lessons learned

Introduction: Medical education aims at training an individual with respect to the knowledge, clinical skills, communication skills, and soft skills and building the highest standards of morale. While majority of training programs offer considerable technical skills only a few incorporate the remaining assets. Methods: A curriculum innovation project “Foundation Course” aiming to achieve the above goals, designed for the students entering a medical college was conducted for 74 students joining M. B. B. S. course in a Government Medical College in Port Blair in the year 2015. The feedback from students and teachers was collected at the end of entire activity in the form of a specially designed structured questionnaire with open as well as close-ended questions. Qualitative analysis was performed for students' and teachers' feedback on the open-ended questions. Results: The response rate was 100%. Students perceived foundation course as an excellent opportunity to acquire basic knowledge, attitude, and skills required for subsequent phases in MBBS course. The students opined that teachers who were friendly and approachable enhanced their learning. The attitude of teachers, the methodology of teaching, and the cooperation of peers all played a significant role in enhancing the learning. This course was helpful and increased their orientation to the curriculum and eased out the apprehension to cope up with the challenges. Conclusion: This foundation course enhanced their orientation to the curriculum and campus, boosted confidence to cope up with the challenging syllabus, helped them develop time and stress management skills, and sensitized them to achieve the highest standards of morale required to ensure ethical practice. Students' feedback revealed that how the faculty taught and interacted with the students had more impact than the content.