students’ perspectives and expectations on the planning phase of elective postings in phase iii of the mbbs program

Background: the national medical council (nmc) in its new curriculum based medical education (cbme) has mandated four weeks of elective postings for phase iii part ii mbbs students of 2019 batch. each student will undergo two weeks of training in block-1 subjects including pathology, microbiology, virology, biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, immunology, infection control, research, community outreach experience and others. block-2 electives include psychiatry, neonatology, dermatology, rehabilitation and palliative care, hematology, oncology and others. since the 2019 batch of students were the first batch of students who have undergone electives postings, this study was conducted to understand their perspectives and expectations about the planning phase of the elective postings, so that appropriate changes could be made in the future to make the learning experience more fruitful. methods: this was a questionnaire-based study done among 198 phase iii, part ii mbbs students in various government and self-financing medical colleges across south-india (mainly tamilnadu). the google form questionnaire was shared to the students through social media platforms. results: among the study participants 25% were from government medical colleges and the 75% are from self-financing medical colleges. majority of the students chose the block-2 elective subject based on their interest whereas only half of the students chose their elective subject in block-1 based on interest. a significantly higher number of students in private medical colleges were given information about the expected learning experience in each elective posting before choosing one in block-1. a significantly higher number of students in block-1 were given a schedule and logbook when compared to block-2. all the students were given a logbook in government medical colleges in both block-1 and block-2 postings. conclusion: providing a proper learning environment and appropriate planning by the stakeholders for elective postings, as recommended by the nmc will motivate the students to perform better academically and will guide them to choose their specialization based on their interests and the needs of the country.