Medical Consultation Training of MBBS Students in Lahore: An Outcome-Based Education Approach

The theoretical and practical aspects of medical education are not well aligned especially when it comes to the communication skills that are crucial for providing high-quality care. This problem is apparent in the medical schools in Lahore where students are ill-prepared for clinical encounters because theory is given more weight in the curriculum than actual communication practice. This is addressed by our study which teaches medical students communication skills using the principles of Outcome-Based Education (OBE). To guarantee that students gain vital consultation skills OBE places a strong emphasis on precise learning objectives individualized instruction and assessments that are in line with each other. Our goal is to evaluate students’ opinions of the training they are receiving currently as well as their self-reported proficiency levels in relation to OBE benchmarks. In particular we investigate the perceptions of skill evaluation and training effectiveness held by students at Shalamar Medical and Dental College. Sixty students from various study years participate in focus groups and a structured questionnaire to provide quantitative and qualitative data. With variances in proficiency levels underscoring the need for consistent OBE-aligned training analysis reveals significant gaps in practical communication training. Our results highlight the significance of incorporating structured communication training into medical curricula in order to close the knowledge gap and better equip students for clinical encounters in the real world. Keywords- Medical Consultation Training MBBS Students, Outcome-Based, Education Approach and Lahore