Challenges Faced by Undergraduate Students of a Medical College in Kolkata During Family Visits Under Family Adoption Programme: A Mixed-Methods Study

Abstract

Background Family Adoption Programme (FAP) has been introduced in the curriculum for medical students to help them learn empathy while understanding the customs and limitations of the community. Though this would help in attaining universal health coverage, most of its aspects are still unknown. Through this study, challenges faced by the students could be identified and addressed. Objectives This study aimed to identify and explore the challenges faced by undergraduate students of a medical college in Kolkata during family visit under FAP. Materials and Methods A descriptive study, cross-sectional in design, using a mixed-methods approach (convergent parallel) was conducted for 2 months (from February 6, 2023, to April 8, 2023) at a medical college in Kolkata. On obtaining approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) and after obtaining informed written consent from the participants, data were collected from the undergraduate medical students using a predesigned, pretested, and semi-structured questionnaire. In-depth interviews (IDIs) were conducted on purposively selected faculties supervising the visit. The quantitative data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25, while the qualitative data were analyzed thematically. Results The study included 170 students and five faculties. The majority (91.8%) of the students faced challenges during the visit. The most commonly encountered challenge was transport related. Other problems faced were lack of supervision during the examination of the family members, difficulty in communicating, and locating allotted family and safety issues. The faculty members identified challenges related to transportation, burden of community expectations, insufficient clinical exposure, communication, and locating allotted families. On juxtaposition of quantitative and qualitative data, transportation issues, difficulty in locating families, and communication barrier were confirmed. Conclusion Almost all the students faced challenges during the family visits. Challenges, such as transportation issues, finding the family, and language barrier, were confirmed.

Keywords

• challenges
• competency-based education
• community health services
• family adoption programme
• medical students