Training interns in population-based research: learners' feedback from 13 consecutive batches from a medical school in India

Objectives To document learners' feedback on an educational intervention to provide interns with a hands-on learning experience in population-based re search. Design Cross-sectional inquiry using a structured tool. Setting A medical school in India. Subjects 306 interns from 13 consecutive groups in a 3-month posting. Main outcome measures Interns' participatory involvement in each of the nin e units of learning. Results In six out of the total of nine units of learning, nearly 70% of th e students rated their participatory involvement at 3 points or above (on a 5-point rating scale). This rating was 4 or 5 (good or maximal) for 50% or more students with regard to identification of research questions, review of literature, data analysis and interpretation, and for 65.4% students in data collection. However, in the last two units, on writing the research re port and its presentation, a large proportion of students rated their parti cipatory involvement as minimal or unsatisfactory (38.9% and 46.4%, respect ively). For 91.2% of students, this was the first hands-on experience of an y type of population-based research. When the students were asked to identi fy the most important factor which hampered learning during the present exp osure, 54.2% of them reported that it was the unsuitable timing of the expo sure, since their priority during internship was the entrance examination f or postgraduate courses. Conclusions This study empirically demonstrates that with some extra effort from teachers, interns can be exposed to a hands-on learning experience in population-based research, on a systematic basis, without additional resou rces.