Incorporating e-learning as a tool for medical education in India: Investigating student perspectives

Abstract

Aim: The undergraduate medical curriculum in India as designed by the medical council of India (MCI) currently does not include E-learning as part of its program. Although, students seem to be quite comfortable with the use of computers and internet, their perception about e-learning per se needs to be addressed. Moreover, before introduction of specific technology opinion of the user must be investigated. Hence, this study was designed with an aim to find out the Indian students perspectives regarding the incorporation of E-learning into the medical curriculum. Materials and Methods: Undergraduate 1 st and 2 nd semester medical student volunteers were recruited for the study from 4 medical colleges from different regions of India after taking informed consent. Responses (based on a Likert scale of 1-5) were collected via a predesigned self-administered questionnaire. Positive attitudinal scores (PAS) were calculated using 7 variables. The results were analysed using SPSS Results: A total of 775 responses were available for analysis. Median PAS was 24 indicating a positive attitude amongst students. 94.27% of students felt that E-learning should be incorporated into the curriculum. The most preferred mode of e-learning was videos (56.9%).With respect to internet usage, the majority of students (65%) opted for a web supplemented programme compared to fully online or web independent programmes. Conclusion: Overall Indian medical undergraduate students seem comfortable with computer use and most students perceive E-learning as a helpful tool in their learning process. Most are willing to have it incorporated into the curriculum; hence we propose that E-learning should be formally introduced into the curriculum as soon as possible. Introduction The guidelines for undergraduate MBBS teaching laid down by the Medical Council of India propose that didactic lectures should not comprise more than 1/3 rd of the schedule and the rest should be in the form of group discussions, tutorials and other interactive modes of teaching. 1 However, the traditional lecture-based system still forms the mainstay of teaching undergraduate medical students, with both faculty and students stressing maximum on lectures, consciously or subconsciously. A useful supplement to conventional lecture-based teaching in the medical curriculum are e-resources. 2 E-learners have shown increased retention rates and better utilization of content, resulting in better achievement of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. 3 While information and access to information in medical science is growing steadily, there is a vast shortage of medical faculty in medical schools across the world. As a result, some schools are looking to E-learning to improve access to medical education. 4 With the mushrooming of private medical colleges in India, currently there is a shortage of faculty in India too. At present, both faculty and students use E-learning in their own ways, though it is not yet a part of the formal curriculum. However, soon