Balachandra Adkoli

Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth University · Centre for Health Professions Education

The state of medical education in India presents a scenario marked by rhetoric and wishful thinking rather than concrete steps in right direction. The search for a need-based curriculum is not new. It has been felt for ages, but the curriculum has not really changed. It is an oft-repeated criticism that our medical colleges are producing graduates...

Leadership is an area of perennial interest cutting across all fields of knowledge, including health sciences. The current models of leadership emphasize the skills and techniques derived from behavioural sciences and management. S-5 Formula is a developmental model, evidenced by learning theories and anchored in ancient Indian wisdom. The leadersh...

Objectives: Radiographers are the back bone of the radiology and Imaging department as the production of good diagnostic value medical image is based on the skill of the radiographer. Radiography graduates learn in college and hospital does not necessarily give them the skills they need for their job. This paper addresses the issue of the gap betwe...

Achieving a successful career in medicine is a long and tedious journey. It means passing through several milestones, from under-graduation to post-graduation, and specialisation as a practitioner, consultant, researcher or administrator. Any journey becomes smooth and enjoyable if one is lucky to find a suitable guide and a companion. Similarly, m...

With the growing emphasis on Faculty Development Programs (FDP), workshops have become a necessity rather than a luxury. Though FDPs can be offered in a number of ways, there is nothing like conducting a workshop. Workshop is one of the most useful innovations by educationists. Because, it engages the participants in active learning through hands-o...

Conflicts are a part and parcel of any growing society. Conflicts exist at homes. They are more common in organisations because the individuals who are different in terms of competency and motivations are put together to shoulder the jobs. In case of health care establishments the conflicts are even more frequent because the issues are often relate...

Scientific communication is a blend of scientific facts presented in a language that everyone can understand and appreciate. Experts claim that an effectively written research paper is more about a story, and not a study [1]. In fact, one of the virtues discussed in conducting research points to telling the story in a cohesive manner, which depends...

Feedback holds the key to successful communication. In fact, without feedback, communication is incomplete, ineffective, and can be even dangerous. While feedback can bridge many communication gaps in human interaction, it can also cause communication gaps resulting in a strained relationship between health professional, and the patient or between...

Effective communication is at the heart of medical profession, whether it is patient-doctor communication, interpersonal communication, or communication with the scientific and research community. However, medical professionals are not adequately trained in these skills, and when it comes to presentations, the message is often lost due to inadequat...

Abstract Background: The frequent use of dental radiography is one of the major causes of the increasing medical radiation exposure of the general population. Consequently, radiation protection is a topic of scientific and public concern. Aim: We evaluated the available research article on dental students’ awareness regarding radiation protection...

Systems approach provides a logical and scientific basis for explaining the functioning of a system in a holistic manner. The health sciences university is a system with its three major operations - education, research, and patient care, which can be conceived as inputs, process, and output, respectively. The system is aided by a feedback loop to i...

Aim: The aim of this study is to find out whether the use of PowerPoint technology as the main source to convey information has an effect on radiography students' learning compared with classes taught without this technology. Design &methodology: The sample consisted of 40 Radiography students, divided into four groups, who were taught biological e...

Systems approach is a time tested, method of trying to understand the reality holistically, and resolving the issues by problem-solving method. It has resulted in enormous applications in almost every field of knowledge, science, technology, industries, agriculture, and health or education. The main essence of systems thinking lies in minimizing th...

Objectives: The functionality of distracters in a multiple choice question plays a very important role. We examined the frequency and impact of functioning and non-functioning distracters on psychometric properties of 5-option items in clinical disciplines. Methods: We analyzed item statistics of 1115 multiple choice questions from 15 summative ass...

The objective of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of interactive mobile device application ‘Apps on sick newborn care’ as a training tool, in improving the knowledge and skill scores of postgraduate nursing students (N = 27). A training workshop was conducted in small workstations by the facilitators using the modules on android device and pr...

In India, the opportunities for professional education of the grass root level health workers are grossly inadequate. Capacity building of all categories of health workers is needed for enhancing health outcomes. To plan and implement a professional development training program for all categories of allied health workers and to assess its outcomes...

Professionalism has emerged as a core competency for the medical professionals globally. However, few studies have been reported from the Gulf region to assess the situation and take steps to promote professionalism. To elicit the views of final year medical students, interns, and residents to explore what professionalism meant to them, what proble...

Background: Faculty development lays the foundation for the quality enhancement in medical education. However, programs are not always based on the needs of the participants, and there is dearth of information on methods to derive faculty's needs. The Medical Education Unit at the University of Dammam, Saudi Arabia, carried out an innovative method...

Faculty development lays the foundation for the quality enhancement in medical education. However, programs are not always based on the needs of the participants, and there is dearth of information on methods to derive faculty's needs. The Medical Education Unit at the University of Dammam, Saudi Arabia, carried out an innovative method to identify...

Internship is a phase of training when a new graduate is expected to acquire skills under supervision, so that he/she may become capable of functioning independently. Often, new graduates go through this period without a clear aim. We conducted an orientation programme before fresh graduates started their 1-year internship to familiarize them with...

Professionalism has emerged as a core competency for health care professionals. Its teaching and assessment are great challenge for the educators to find new pathways of learning. We present a conceptual model of how to inculcate professional qualities such as altruism, respect for others, humanistic qualities, ethical standards, accountability, ex...

Re-orientation of medical education in India has not been fully successful because the development of medical teacher, a critical component has not been adequately addressed. Faculty development is a key factor. We have identified six shifting trends in faculty development that can contribute to the development of a medical educator in India. These...

The teaching of communication skills is gaining increasing attention. However, the opportunities for faculty development are limited. This study highlights an attempt by the Medical Education Unit, King Fahd Hospital of the University, Al-Khobar, to raise the awareness of faculty to this vital area by organizing a one-day workshop. A one-day worksh...

Medical education in India is challenged with the shortage of teachers. The teachers are not adequately prepared to handle tasks in response to the emergent needs. This paper highlights the need for strengthening faculty development as a vehicle for capacity building in medical education. The initiatives taken by several institutions and agencies d...

Faculty development in medical education is gaining momentum in India. While planning a National Conference on Medical Education (NCME 2007), we did a survey of principals and faculty of medical colleges to understand the status of faculty development programmes and medical education units in medical colleges in India. Questionnaires were sent to p...

The international mobility of health workers is not a recent phenomenon. This paper highlights the various facets of migration of doctors in the five South Asian countries - Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Migration is attributed to "push" from within the countries, as well as "pull" from Western countries in the background of glo...

Four medical institutes, viz, AIIMS, New Delhi; CMC, Vellore; JIPMER, Pondicherry and IMS-BHU, Varanasi formed a consortium to introduce reforms in undergraduate medical education. A detailed inquiry was conducted by administering questionnaires to the faculty, recent graduates and patients to identify the deficiencies in the present system. Morbid...

There is a growing concern over the quality of medical education for undergraduates in India. This paper is an attempt to define a need-based curriculum and outline the initiatives taken by the Medical Council of India (M.C.I.) in developing a need-based curriculum. The steps include: clear delineation of goals and objectives of education; adoption...

Multiple choice questions have come to occupy a prominent place in the evaluation system of medical education. However the framing of multiple choice questions and their effective use need further clarification in the Indian context. This paper outlines some of the steps that may be adopted for streamlining the preparation and administration of a m...

It is now widely recognised that postgraduate medical education, whether it is in basic medical sciences, or in clinical disciplines should have an educational component built in its core. The experience of National Teacher Training Centre at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Pondicherry in India shows that it is...

Faculty development programs in medical education have received impetus in the South East Asian Region. However, there is need for a systematic approach to comprehensively evaluate the effectiveness and the impact of these programs. Systems approach to the program evaluation enables the evaluators to conduct the evaluability assessment of these pro...