Abstract
Background
One of the primary roles played by Indian medical graduates is that of a lifelong learner. To this end, students must acquire the habit of self-directed learning (SDL). Lack of SDL skills among undergraduate medical students is a concern; hence, this study was designed to introduce SDL in physiology to phase 1 undergraduate medical students and assess its effectiveness through student and faculty perceptions.
Methods
The project commenced after obtaining clearance from the institutional ethics committee. The faculty members and students were sensitized on SDL. A feedback questionnaire was framed and the topics for SDL were selected. SDL was implemented for six topics. The effectiveness of the sessions was evaluated by administering the feedback questionnaire to the students and recording perceptions of the students and faculty on SDL. The data were subjected to quantitative and qualitative analysis.
Results
A total of 96 phase 1 students participated in the study. A majority of the students felt that after SDL sessions, they were more prepared and aware of their learning strengths and had started taking ownership of their learning. However, some students felt that the activity was not useful in improving their analytical skills. Both the students and the faculty were fairly satisfied with this teaching learning innovation.
Conclusions
SDL was successfully implemented for phase 1 medical students. Both the students and faculty were satisfied with the SDL strategy. SDL has been shown to make students independent learners who are aware of their learning goals and capable of evaluating their learning.
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Acknowledgements
I extend my thanks to FAIMER faculty, FAIMER Batch 2019 & co fellows (Batch 2020) for validation of the tool used and for their constructive suggestions, Director and Medical Education Unit of GISM for their support. I also express a deep sense of gratitude to my students (MBBS Batch 2019) for their active participation.
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BB- Concepts, Design, Definition of intellectual content, Literature search, Data acquisition, Data analysis, Manuscript preparation, Manuscript editing, Manuscript review PA- Concepts, Design, Definition of intellectual content, Definition of intellectual content, Data acquisition, Data analysis, Manuscript editing, Manuscript review DC- Concepts, Design, Definition of intellectual content, Literature search, Data acquisition, Data analysis, Manuscript preparation, Manuscript editing, Manuscript review AP- Concepts, Design, Definition of intellectual content, Literature search, Data acquisition, Data analysis, Manuscript preparation, Manuscript editing, Manuscript review DK—Design, Definition of intellectual content, Data analysis, Manuscript preparation, Manuscript editing, Manuscript review TKS—Design, Definition of intellectual content, Literature search, Data analysis, Manuscript preparation, Manuscript editing, Manuscript review.
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Exemption was granted by the Institutional Ethics Committee (GIMS IEC) via letter number GIMS/IEC/HR/EFR/2020/06 dated 03.04.2020.
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Consent was obtained from all the students for participation in the study.
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Bhandari, B., Agarwal, P., Chopra, D. et al. Implementation of Self-Directed Learning in Physiology for Phase 1 Undergraduate Medical Students. Med.Sci.Educ. 32, 899–906 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-022-01585-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-022-01585-y