Internship Orientation: An Essential Facilitatory Bridging Step for Medical Students

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.

Key Messages: Internship orientation programs are recommended for a smooth and swift transition from that of a medical student to professional life.

Keywords

Internship orientation program - medical interns - skills - transition

Publication History

Article published online:
06 August 2021

• References

• 1 McKenzie S, Mellis C. The impact on internship of a tailored intern preparation package. Adv Med Educ Pract 2018; 9: 639-48
• 2 Burford B, Whittle V, Vance GH. The relationship between medical student learning opportunities and preparedness for practice: A questionnaire study. BMC Med Educ 2014; 14: 223
• 3 Laack TA, Newman JS, Goyal DG, Torsher LC. A 1-week simulated internship course helps prepare medical students for transition to residency. Simul Healthc 2010; 5: 127-32
• 4 Durgawale PM, Durgawale PP. Medical education: Our current concern. Indian J Community Med 2006; 31: 121-2
• 5 Hannon FB. A national medical education needs’ assessment of interns and the development of an intern education and training programme. Med Educ 2000; 34: 275-84
• 6 McNeil HP, Scicluna HA, Boyle P, Grimm MC, Gibson KA, Jones PD. Successful development of generic capabilities in an undergraduate medical education program. High Educ Res Dev 2012; 31: 525-39
• 7 Berridge EJ, Freeth D, Sharpe J, Roberts CM. Bridging the gap: Supporting the transition from medical student to practising doctor—a two-week preparation programme after graduation. Med Teach 2007; 29: 119-27
• 8 Wayne DB, Cohen ER, Singer BD, Moazed F, Barsuk JH, Lyons EA. et al. Progress toward improving medical school graduates’ skills via a “boot camp” curriculum. Simul Healthc 2014; 9: 33-9
• 9 Blackmore C, Austin J, Lopushinsky SR, Donnon T. Effects of postgraduate medical education “boot camps” on clinical skills, knowledge, and confidence: A meta-analysis. J Grad Med Educ 2014; 6: 643-52
• 10 Nagpal N. Incidents of violence against doctors in India: Can these be prevented?. Natl Med J India 2017; 30: 97-100
• 11 Dolev N, Goldental N, Reuven-Lelong A, Tadmor T. The evaluation of emotional intelligence among medical students and its links with non-cognitive acceptance measures to medical school. Rambam Maimonides Med J 2019; 10: e0010
• 12 Bar-On R. The Bar-On model of emotional-social intelligence (ESI). Psicothema 2006; 18: 13-25
• 13 Wagner PJ, Moseley GC, Grant MM, Gore JR, Owens C. Physicians’ emotional intelligence and patient satisfaction. Fam Med 2002; 34: 750-4
• 14 Weng HC, Chen HC, Chen HJ, Lu K, Hung SY. Doctors’ emotional intelligence and the patient-doctor relationship. Med Educ 2008; 42: 703-11
• 15 Satterfield JM, Hughes E. Emotion skills training for medical students: A systematic review. Med Educ 2007; 41: 935-41
• 16 Shakir HJ, Recor CL, Sheehan DW, Reynolds RM. The need for incorporating emotional intelligence and mindfulness training in modern medical education. Postgrad Med J 2017; 93: 509-11
• 17 Attitude and Communication (AT-COM) Competencies for the Indian Medical Graduate. Reconciliation Board. Academic Committee of Medical Council of India. July 2015. https://www.nmc.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/AETCOM_book.pdf. [Last accessed on 2020 Oct 27]
• 18 Colley JM, Harris M, Hellyer P, Radford DR. Teaching stress management in undergraduate dental education: Are we doing enough?. Br Dent J 2018; 224: 405-7
• 19 Foundation course for the undergraduate medical education program 2019. https://www.nmc.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/FOUNDATION-COURSE-MBBS-17.07.2019.pdf. [Last accessed on 2020 Oct 27]