Perception of undergraduate medical students towards the subject of Pathology at one of the Medical Colleges of Gujarat, India

Abstract

Background: Second professional year in the medical undergraduate is the pedestal where the students start attending clinics. It is very important to have idea regarding students’ interest as well as perception regarding any subject. Best way of improving teaching methodology is to have the feedback from the students. Present study was carried out to evaluate students’ perception regarding Pathology subject. Suggestions from students were received in order to improve the way of teaching. Aims & Objective: To determine the perceptions of second MBBS students about pathology subject and teaching methods currently followed. Materials and Methods: Present study was a cross sectional study carried out among second MBBS students of one of the rural teaching hospital. Data collection was done after completion of first six months of second professional year. Perception of students regarding the pathology subject was studied using predesigned proforma. Results: Out of 127 students, 88.1% perceived case based learning as most effective teaching method. As per them tutorial s and practical are more effective teaching method as compared to didactic lectures. Analysis of perception of students about pathology subject showed that 68.5% students found the subject interesting. Among participant, 84.2% stated that integrated teaching is most effective method to understand the topic thoroughly. Almost all (97.6%) suggested inclusion of MCQ s in examination. 85.8% suggested use of power-point presentation in teaching any topic. Conclusion: Most of the students opined that integrated teaching method is useful for understanding the topic. MCQ base examination should be given more weightage as per their suggestion. Use of audio visual aid (Power point presentation) makes their comprehension better.