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 research. 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 nine units of learning. RESULTS: In six out of the total of nine units of learning, nearly 70% of the 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 report and its presentation, a large proportion of students rated their participatory involvement as minimal or unsatisfactory (38.9% and 46.4%, respectively). For 91.2% of students, this was the first hands-on experience of any type of population-based research. When the students were asked to identify the most important factor which hampered learning during the present exposure, 54.2% of them reported that it was the unsuitable timing of the exposure, since their priority during internship was the entrance examination for 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 resources.