Perception of teachers towards performance of undergraduate medical students in Physiology practical & syllabus content

Students’ performance in physiology practical examination is a matter of concern. Therefore it was felt necessary to assess teachers impression on performance of students in various sections of physiology practicals and towards syllabus content of physiology practical to suggest modifications. A questionnaire based study was designed involving physiology teachers of the medical colleges of Vidarbha & Chhatisgarh region of Central India .It was observed that students’ performance was not satisfactory according to 70% teachers. Weak areas identified were clinical Physiology (71%) and animal Experiments 26% Reinforcement was found to be necessary by 65% teachers, and it should be in the form of Video Clips (70%), Early Clinical Exposure (58%) & Objective Structured Practical Examination (78%). The Reasons for the poor performance were found to be time crunch, less faculty, no small group teaching, no integration between theory & clinical application, no clinical exposure & apathy of students. About the syllabus content, practicals that can be replaced were found to be animal experiments, Stethography, Ergography and the practical that can be included Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation, Nerve Conduction Studies, Electo myography (EMG), Computerised Pulmonary Function Tests PFT, Autonomic Function Tests, evoked potentials, ELISA, Diffusion Capacity of lungs by Carbon Monoxide (DLCO). Measures suggested to improve students’ performance were to restore duration of I MBBS to one and half year, Early Clinical exposure(compulsory ward visits), small group teaching, interpretation of laboratory reports through group discussion and simulation lab for clinical experiments. We conclude that revision of the syllabus is the need of the hour but the same syllabus can be made interesting & motivating for the learners by applying new strategies.