Early clinical exposure as an adjunct in learning anatomy among first-year medical undergraduates

Introduction : Early clinical exposure (ECE) is a new teaching method introduced in the first year of medical school to bridge the gap between pre-clinical and clinical subjects. The impact of ECE on learning anatomy has not been extensively studied. Objectives: To examine the perceptions of first-year medical undergraduates towards ECE in learning anatomy. Methods: 197 first-year MBBS students who attended 30 hours of ECE sessions were surveyed through a Google form with closed and open-ended questions. Categorical data was represented by frequency and percentage, and continuous variables by mean ± SD. Results: 94.6% of the respondents agreed that ECE was an interesting method of learning anatomy compared to traditional lectures, while 5.4% disagreed. 95.1% of students agreed that ECE motivated them to read more on the topics covered, while 4.9% felt ECE showed no impact on their motivation to study. Students strongly believed that ECE helped them understand the topics taught in Anatomy better (36.5%, n=72), retain information (35.5%, n=70), correlate with clinical scenarios (48.2%, n=95) 95.6% students opined that the frequency of ECE sessions should be increased and incorporated along with regular lectures in Anatomy. Conclusion: ECE sessions were well appreciated and accepted by students. ECE helps in understanding concepts in anatomy better, makes correlation with clinical aspects easier, and retaining information learned through ECE sessions is possible. ECE may serve as a great tool in imparting quality medical education.