First-year Medical Undergraduate Students’ Perceptions and Experiences Regarding Family Adoption Program: Challenges and Lessons

Abstract

medical education, ensures availability of adequate and highquality medical professionals in all parts of the country; that promotes equitable and universal healthcare that encourages community health perspective and makes services of medical professionals accessible to all citizens; that promotes national health goals."7 In 2021, NMC introduced a family adoption program (FAP) as part of the Community Medicine Curriculum to sensitize the upcoming medical professionals to the health needs of the community.FAP begins in the first year, wherein families are allotted in an area not covered by the Rural Health Training Center (RHTC) of the department.In the beginning of phase 1, the students need to regularly follow up these families till completion Worldwide, the focus is shifting from only hospital-based teaching of medical professionals to "Community Oriented Medical Education (COME)".Just as the concept of primary healthcare is an approach to the health system, COME is an approach to medical education.It is an education which is "focused on population groups and individual persons taking into account the health needs of the community concerned."Its aim is to produce community-oriented doctors who are able and willing to serve their communities and deal effectively with health problems at primary, secondary, and tertiary level. 1 In India, it was implemented as the Rural Oriented Medical Education (ROME) scheme, which led to the policy decision of compulsorily attaching rural and urban health centers to the Preventive and Social Medicine Department of every medical college.Community-based education for health professionals is effective in fostering health personnel who are responsive to community needs. 2 It is also effective in reducing hospital referrals and improving communication and clinical management skills.[3][4][5] The graduate medical curriculum is oriented toward training students to undertake the responsibilities of a physician of first contact who is capable of looking after the preventive, promotive, curative, and rehabilitative aspect of medicine.The importance of the community aspects of healthcare and of rural healthcare services is to be recognized.The importance of social factors in relation to the problem of health and diseases should receive proper emphasis throughout the course, and to achieve this purpose, the educational process should also be communitybased rather than only hospital-based.6 The National Medical Commission (NMC) was established "to provide for medical education system that improves access to quality and affordable 1-