Transect Walk: A Tool to Aid the Process of Designing and Delivery of Context-Specific Medical Curriculum

Dear Editor, The medical curriculum for implementation in any nation is designed considering multiple aspects. It becomes the responsibility of the local administrators/medical educators to set it to the specific local needs of the community where the institution is located.[1,2] Participatory rural appraisal methods are the qualitative and cost-effective approaches to involve the rural community in identifying problems and finding potential solutions, thereby empowering them. Transect walk is one of the participatory rural appraisal techniques, wherein there is a systematic walk along a pre-defined path either in the community or the study area with local people to identify important infrastructures, resources, welfare measures, or services.[3] During this walk across the village, students should utilize the opportunity to interact with local villagers and identify common health concerns and problems they face. It is a simple tool to implement at the community level, and medical students can be involved in carrying out with local people as part of community exposure.[3,4] The transect walk provides vital information about the cause-and-effect associations between the presence of resources, human habitation, the important problems in the area, the prevalent local customs, and the potential opportunities.[3,4] The goal of medical education is to produce competent medical graduates, and the transect walk can aid in achieving this by sensitizing medical students to local customs and issues.[3,4] Depending on the magnitude of the problem, the medical curriculum can be revised at the Board of Studies meeting and implemented as a context-specific curriculum for subsequent batches of medical students. For instance, if a specific area is endemic for lymphatic filariasis or worm infestations, specific learning competencies can be introduced in the curriculum to deepen students’ understanding of these topics. To conclude, the success of medical institutions in producing competent medical graduates significantly depends on the delivery of a context-specific curriculum. The tool of transect walk can be utilized to understand local problems in the region, and medical students can be accordingly trained in specific learning competencies, thereby improving healthcare delivery in the region. Financial support and sponsorship Nil. Conflicts of interest There are no conflicts of interest.