Perceptions of the first-year MBBS students about professionalism and ethics after foundation course of competency-based medical education curriculum

Introduction: In India, with the introduction of the new Competency-Based Medical Education curriculum in 2019, the “Foundation Course” has become mandatory for the newly admitted medical undergraduates. “Professional Development, including Ethics” which is an important part of this course, has dedicated 40 h of teaching. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire-based study conducted in August 2019 during the “Foundation Course” for the 1st-year medical students of Army College of Medical Sciences. A well-structured module validated by the members of the Medical Education Unit was used for teaching “Professional Development including Ethics.” At the end of 40 h of teaching, the students' perception about the “Professional development, including Ethics” module was taken with the help of an anonymous validated feedback questionnaire. Results: Most of the students (94.19%) felt that professionalism and ethics are very important for doctors and should be taught. About 90.7% felt that the care of the patient should be the first concern of a doctor. The students (94.19%) also felt that teaching of “Ethics” should be included in the curriculum, 89.53% felt that it will influence and improve the behavior of doctors, and 91.86% felt that it will finally lead to improvement of the patient-doctor relationship. Conclusion: The study concludes that “Professional Development including Ethics” incorporated in the foundation course, is a much-needed necessity for the students entering into the medical profession. The teaching of professionalism and ethics will definitely lead to more awareness of these values in our future doctors.