General Needs Assessment of the Undergraduate Medical Students to Integrate Courses on Medical Ethics, Time Management and Communication Skills into the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery Curriculum of Pakistani Medical Colleges.

Arslaan Javaeed

doi:10.7759/cureus.4433

Abstract

In Pakistan, medical ethics, time management, and communication skills are not taught to medical students and are not a part of the curriculum of Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) developed jointly by Higher Education Commission and the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council. The objective of this general needs assessment was to assess the significance of these courses for undergraduate medical students. The literature review of the two online databases (PubMed and ERIC (Education Resources Information Centre)) was conducted in January 2018. The current literature emphasizes the significance of these undergraduate medical courses for medical students in Pakistan.

Highlights

BackgroundThe development of a new curriculum or amending the existing curriculum requires the curriculum developers to establish the need for it
Attitudes of medical students toward communication skills learning in Western Saudi Arabia
Has there been an earlier publication of needs assessment to integrate courses on time management, communication skills, and medical ethics into the undergraduate medical curriculum? Literature review revealed that communication skills and time management are commonly taught through workshops

Summary

Introduction

The development of a new curriculum or amending the existing curriculum requires the curriculum developers to establish the need for it This need is demonstrated by identifying a learning gap that can be defined as a gap between what a student has learnt and what they are expected to learn at a certain point in their education. General needs assessment is a process of identifying what already exists and what is missing in the programmes, gaps in services, or curriculum, whereas a targeted needs’ assessment is a process by which curricula developers apply the knowledge learned from the general needs’ assessment to their particular students and learning environment. The purpose of this paper was to understand and identify the general needs assessment of undergraduate medical students to integrate courses on medical education into the undergraduate medical curriculum.

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Conclusion