Anatomy curriculum: perception of Indian Undergraduate Medical Students

Introduction: Anatomy curriculum for undergraduate medical students in India is squeezed from one and half year to one year since 1998 as per Medical Council of India (MCI) regulation, 1997 leading to pressure of completing the vast syllabus in this time frame. Further MCI recommends student centered teaching in the form small group teaching, seminars, formative assessments etc. The present study was conducted to determine the students’ perception about these changes.

Method: A total of 360 students participated in the study during two academic years. Students’ feedback was collected through pre-structured objective questionnaire at the end of each academic year and the responses were analyzed statistically.

Result: About two-third (65%) students expressed that duration provided to study anatomy in the current curriculum is insufficient and should be increased to 10-12 months. Reasons cited were more time required for acclimatization, syllabus being rushed through, significant stress level and insufficient time for recreation. About 76.38% students suggested that number of teaching hours per day should be reduced to 5-6 hours from current 7 hours. Students gave less than 50% weightage to college coaching (87.77%), opted for small group teaching (79.44%) and preferred appropriate combination of teaching with chalk-board & power point presentation (55.83%). They favoured formative tests and revisions in learning anatomy than seminars.