Abstract

Staff and student perceptions regarding a clinical skills laboratory learning experience

Author(s): Dr Shazia Nilofar Ibnerasa, Dr Noreen Rahat Hashmi

Objective: To obtain the views of medical students about clinical skills laboratory training in a private medical college in Lahore, Pakistan. Design: Cross-sectional descriptive survey.

Setting: This study was conducted with all final year medical students (n = 116) from September 2010 to October 2010 in a private medical institute: Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore, Pakistan. Methods: The training program was delivered in parallel with the traditional lecture based curriculum and comprised 18 clinical skills stations. Students received hands on training from a multidisciplinary clinical faculty. On completion of the clinical skills module both the teachers and the students were asked to fill out a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Participants’ responses were rated on a 5-point Likert scale.

Results: The student response rate was 94% (109 out of 116). The majority of the students responded favorably to the skills laboratory learning experience. All of the participating teachers (11 male and 7 female) completed the questionnaire (n = 18). The majority of the teachers were in favour of the clinical skills session.

Discussion: This study researched the perception of both the medical students and the clinical teachers, regarding the first clinical skills training session in a private medical college. The results showed that both the teachers and the students participated enthusiastically in the clinical skills program and both agreed that the program is very effective in learning the specified skills. Most of the students thought that the session was helpful in learning the skills and that their confidence level for the specific skills had improved. This reflects the influence of a hands-on practical teaching program when teaching clinical skills.

Conclusion: The perceptions of graduating medical students reveal the extent of their confidence in the ability of the skills training program to provide them with the skills they are expected to have, in order to start internship.