Perception of Early Clinical Exposure (ECE) among Phase I MBBS Students in a Medical College in Northeastern India

Background: Early Clinical exposure (ECE) is a Learning methodology in Medical Education, which encourages exposure of the medical students to the clinical patients as early as the first year of medical college (Phase I MBBS). It helps them in applying basic science concepts to clinical patient care. Objective: To assess and analyze the Perception of Early Clinical Exposure (ECE) among Phase I MBBS students. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted January 2024 to March 2024 of 100 Phase I MBBS students who were first exposed to four Modules of ECE in both hospital and classroom settings. The outcomes and effectiveness of the students were then assessed and analyzed by a pre-structured, self-administered electronic questionnaire which contained both open-ended and close-ended items. Evaluation was done by statistical analysis of qualitative data and quantitative analysis of student comments using thematic analysis. Results: 97.6% of the students felt that Early Clinical Exposure is important in Phase I (1st year) while 2.4% of the participants were neutral on the question. 92.8% of students felt that ECE helped them in correlating physiology concepts with clinical cases while 86.9% of students felt that ECE helped in the retention of the topic. Majority of the students reported that ECE helped them in understanding and knowledge of the topic and provides them an exposure to reality of patient care and medical environment. Students also expressed the need for increasing the frequency and duration of ECE sessions. Conclusion: Our study reveals that Phase I MBBS students regard Early Clinical Exposure (ECE) as a pivotal methodology for enhancing their comprehension of fundamental scientific principles and their ability to correlate these principles with clinical applications. Moreover, they recognize ECE as a platform that immerses them in the realities of patient care. These findings underscore the imperative of continual assessment and enhancement in the implementation of ECE. Keywords: Early Clinical Exposure, Medical Education, Physiology, Assessment, Competency, Professionalism