DEVELOPING CLINICAL COMPETENCY THROUGH EARLY CLINICAL EXPOSURE UNDER THE NCISM COMPETENCY BASED DYNAMIC CURRICULUM (CBDC ) : A BLOOD PRESSURE MONITORING PROJECT IN UNDERGRADUATE AYURVEDA EDUCATION

Abstract

Background: Early Clinical Exposure (ECE) offers integration of key biomedical concepts with supervised clinical learning. Practical activities like taking blood pressure can help develop clinical skills and improve students' knowledge of simple physiological concepts. Objectives: To assess first year undergraduate student perceptions of an activity called ‘measurement of BP' conducted as part of ECE and explore main learning points and areas for improvement.Objectives: To assess first year undergraduate student perceptions of an activity called ‘measurement of BP' conducted as part of ECE and explore main learning points and areas for improvement. Design: It is an educational evaluation was done in a single centre among the students of first-year undergraduate Ayurveda. The total number of students was 125 and they were planned to be in 6 batches. The activity covered theoretical orientation, demonstration by faculty, supervised hands-on practice, recording of blood pressure, interpretation of blood pressure, interactive discussion and feedback. Six open-ended questions were used to get feedback. Overall, 69 responses were analysed using content analysis with the support of AI. Numbers of frequencies and percentages were based on the number of feedback records (n = 69). Results: ECE was the preferred teaching approach in 50 responses (72.5%) and combined/sequential (classroom and ECE) teaching approaches in 12 responses (17.4%) and classroom teaching alone (7.2%) in five. There was a rise in confidence or decreased hesitation to perform the procedure in 30 responses (43.5%). Learning gains and clinical relevance were expressed in 55 responses (79.7%). Practical problems were reported to be the following: difficulty in hearing the Korotkoff sounds or pulse (17; 24.6%), positioning the cuff, stethoscope or artery or the patient (15; 21.7%) and handling the equipment (9; 13.0%). In 35 responses (50.7%), there was a call for more or continued practice was noted. Conclusion: The students of first year undergraduate studies of Ayurveda gave positive feedback for the blood pressure measurement activity, which is highly demonstration of practical learning, clinical orientation and confidence building of students in performing basic examination procedures in the areas of education from ECE. Providing repeated supervised practice, targeted faculty demonstrations and skill development through an interactive approach may further enhance the ECE experience.