Training interns in population-based research: learners' feedback from 13 consecutive batches from a medical school in India.

OBJECTIVES

To document learners' feedback on an educational intervention to provide interns with a hands-on learning experience in population-based research.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional inquiry using a structured tool.

SETTING

A medical school in India.

SUBJECTS

306 interns from 13 consecutive groups in a 3-month posting.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Interns' participatory involvement in each of the nine units of learning.

RESULTS

In six out of the total of nine units of learning, nearly 70% of the students rated their participatory involvement at 3 points or above (on a 5-point rating scale). This rating was 4 or 5 (good or maximal) for 50% or more students with regard to identification of research questions, review of literature, data analysis and interpretation, and for 65.4% students in data collection. However, in the last two units, on writing the research report and its presentation, a large proportion of students rated their participatory involvement as minimal or unsatisfactory (38.9% and 46.4%, respectively). For 91.2% of students, this was the first hands-on experience of any type of population-based research. When the students were asked to identify the most important factor which hampered learning during the present exposure, 54.2% of them reported that it was the unsuitable timing of the exposure, since their priority during internship was the entrance examination for postgraduate courses.

CONCLUSIONS

This study empirically demonstrates that with some extra effort from teachers, interns can be exposed to a hands-on learning experience in population-based research, on a systematic basis, without additional resources.