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. 2021 Apr 19;11(2):77-83.
doi: 10.4103/ajm.ajm_202_20. eCollection 2021 Apr-Jun.

Internship orientation: An essential facilitatory bridging step for medical students

Rajesh Kathrotia  1 , Farhanul Huda  2 , Shalinee Rao  3 , Anupama Bahadur  4 , Ravi Kant  5 , Manisha Naithani  6
Affiliations

Internship orientation: An essential facilitatory bridging step for medical students

Rajesh Kathrotia et al. Avicenna J Med. .

Abstract

Background: Internship is a facilitatory period that hones skills and helps in the evolution of a qualified medical student to a competent doctor. The feeling of a final year student joining as a fresh intern after successfully completing the final professional examination will be directionless without a bridging initiative through a buffer program. Fresh interns need to be oriented to the fundamentals of working effectively with a patient as a whole and not as a separate discipline. This study was done to evaluate the effectiveness of the internship orientation program and to assess the feedback of participants about this program.

Methodology: This was a study conducted on 235 freshly joined medical interns. The process included evaluation of a well-structured seven-day orientation program by prevalidated structured Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) and feedback.

Results: All interns performed satisfactorily in the post-test with a mean score of 74.13 ± 7.18. Post-test scores were highest for procedure skills and communication skills, including medical ethics. Overall, 232 (99%) of interns responded that the program was useful and it successfully enhanced their clinical skills; 221 (94%) of interns expressed that the content of the program was excellent to good; and 228 (97%) of interns felt that the method used for training was appropriate. Interns also documented that there were a few new skills that were acquired by attending this program.

Conclusion: There is an unmet need for an internship orientation program across all medical colleges to lay a strong foundation for naive interns. Based on the results, we recommend an internship orientation program for a smooth and swift transition from that of a medical student to professional life. It will orient the interns and lay the foundation for the next level of assignment in building their professional career.

Keywords: Internship orientation program; medical interns; skills; transition.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of topics in the post-test
Figure 2
Figure 2
Histogram showing the frequency of total scores in post-test
Figure 3
Figure 3
Pretest and post-test scores for training on occupational hazard (n = 232)
Figure 4
Figure 4
Pretest and post-test scores for training on hand hygiene and BMW management (n = 232)
Figure 5
Figure 5
Most useful sessions according to interns during orientation program
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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