Student perception of the effectiveness of online comprehensive patient care teaching (Compact) tool.

Abstract

Objective: To identify students’ perception of the effectiveness of the ComPaCT tool when delivered online. Study Design: Survey Questionnaire. Setting: Department of Surgery, Islamic International Medical College.  Period: June 2020. Methods: A survey questionnaire was designed and distributed amongst final year students who had experienced ComPaCT both in a clinical setting and online. Likert scale responses were collected based on components of the ComPaCT tool with two open-ended questions on the strengths and weaknesses of the use of the tool online. Results: 89.7% of students agreed that they covered all aspects of patient care during the sessions. 74.4% thought that they could achieve adequate clinical skills based on these sessions. Although more than 80% of students rated the interaction with the tutor and the feedback as very useful only 64% felt confident that they could provide care to a patient after going through the online sessions. The main strength of the model was considered to be the use of teachers as simulated patients and the main weakness was the lack of actual patient-student interaction. Conclusion: The students perceived ComPaCT as an effective tool to learn holistic patient care online however it lacks authenticity of a real patient encounter.