Study of prior preparedness and awareness regarding the MBBS course amongst first year students admitted at rural medical college, of PIMS-DU, Loni

Abstract

Background: Adolescents in India choose career in medicine under the influence and pressure from parents, family members, peers and external sources. There are no measures taken to study whether these medical students understand the demands and priorities of a career in medicine once they decide to choose it. Hence the study was undertaken at PIMS-DU with Ist year MBBS students as participants. Aims: 1) Assess the factors influencing the choice of MBBS. 2) Analyze the prior knowledge and awareness of medical students regarding the course. 3) Their career trend in future. Material and Methods: All newly admitted students present at the orientation programme in September 2014 at PIMS –DU were included as participants. Their written responses to a 14 point questionnaire were entered into a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet and descriptive analysis was done. Results: A majority of students had their parents and family members in medical profession indicating prior idea amongst the students regarding the course, even when the choice was made at an early stage of academics or without appearing for aptitude tests due to unawareness. Appearance for entrance exams to kept their options wide open but caused unnecessary stress, anxiety and economic burden to parents. However, these participants had limited knowledge about medical curriculum but had decisive ideas regarding future trend in career. Conclusions: Family being strong motivator for career choice for medical students; should encourage students to undertake aptitude tests, career guidance courses and investigate about future prospects to create a strong foundation as MBBS students.