English

Abstract

BACKGROUND In compliance with Medical Council of India (MCI) recommendation, a month-long foundation course was introduced for the first time in Andhra Medical College for first year MBBS students of 2019 batch during August 2019. The aim of the study was to assess skill in standard precautions among first year MBBS students after foundation course. METHODS An observational cross-sectional study was carried out among first year MBBS students who attended basic skill training sessions on universal precautions as a part of their foundation course in a Government Medical College, Vishakhapatnam, who were admitted during the academic year 2019. In the present study, objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) is used in order to assess the skill. Students were asked to demonstrate 5 selected skills of standard precautions i.e. hand washing, wearing of cap, mask, apron and gloves. Their performance was noted in the checklist provided and was assessed accordingly. Data obtained from checklist was entered into excel sheet and was expressed in percentages. The difference in skill acquisition between boys and girls was tested for statistical significance using chi-square test. RESULTS Out of the 94 students who participated in the study, 54 % were boys and 46 % were girls. Only 19 % of students have demonstrated all the 5 skills correctly. Majority of the students i.e. 71 % were able to demonstrate 7 steps of hand washing correctly. About 44 % of the students demonstrated the donning of gloves correctly. About 66 % of students demonstrated the technique of wearing operation theatre mask correctly. Regarding wearing of surgical cap, 70 % of students did it correctly. 83 % of students demonstrated donning of apron correctly. In all skill demonstrations, boys performed better than girls and this difference was found to be statistically significant except in case of donning of apron. CONCLUSIONS The study findings indicate that imparting skill training to first year students has been beneficial to the students in terms of gaining skills related to universal skills. However, most of the students haven’t yet got the desired competence in all the procedures. Repeated training in their early clinical exposure may help them to develop the skills further. KEYWORDS Foundation Course, Standard Precautions, First Year MBBS Students