Perception of the Family Adoption Programme Among Undergraduate Medical Students of Three Successive Admission Cohorts at a Medical College in Western India: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Background: The Family Adoption Programme (FAP) was introduced by the NMC in the undergraduate MBBS curriculum as a community-based healthcare learning. Advantages of learning in the community as a Classroom include achieving communication skills and understanding the role of customs and cultural factors affecting health. The aim was to assess the perception of students of SMIMER Medical College towards the FAP. Material and Methods: An assessment of the perception of students of admission years 2021, 2022 & 2023 of SMIMER Medical College was collected by online data collection tool. Perception on the functionality of equipment they used, how the assigned family behaved, teaching quality & guidance, transportation arrangements and helpfulness of FAP included in the questionnaire. Perception was assessed using a Likert scale of one to ten. Results: Final 485 responses were used to analyse. The average perception of students about their weight measurement skill was 9.2±1.3 with median 9 (8-10). Students found the average helpfulness of FAP in MBBS was 8.8±1.6 with median 9 (8-10) and the average overall experience of students was 8.9±1.5 with median 9 (8-10). Conclusions: The study indicates that students from SMIMER Medical College have a positive perception for the FAP.