Orientation program for first year undergraduate medical students: knowledge, attitudes and perceptions

Introduction: During a week-long orientation program at KIST Medical College newly joined first year undergraduate medical (MBBS) students are introduced to the institution, to teaching-learning activities, to the MBBS curriculum and to faculty members. The program has been conducted previously for three batches of students but feedback has not been obtained. Hence the study was conducted to study knowledge and attitude scores of students before and after the orientation program among the newly joined fourth batch of students, and note student perception about the effectiveness of different sessions. Methods: A questionnaire administered at the end of the program measured knowledge and attitudes of students about selected subject areas before and after the program. Students were asked to indicate their present level of knowledge and attitude and also indicate their levels at the beginning of the program. The median knowledge and attitudes scores were calculated and compared among male and female respondents. The median scores before and after the module was compared using appropriate nonparametric tests (p 0.05). The effectiveness of different lecture sessions was also studied. Results: Sixty-three of the 72 students (87.5%) participated in the study. Forty students (63.5%) were male, 21 (33.3%) were female and two did not mention their gender. The median knowledge and attitudes scores significantly increased after the program. The effectiveness score was 3 for most sessions expect a few where the score was 4. Conclusions: The knowledge and attitude scores in different subject areas improved after the module. The program was perceived by students to be effective.