Perception of Undergraduate Students about Bedside Teaching: Experience at a Private Medical College

Abstract

Introduction: Bedside teaching is an essential tool for clinical skill demonstration in undergraduate medical education. Recently, a shift away from bedside teaching has been seen, which can lead to a decline in students' clinical performance.
Objective: To understand the student perception of bedside teaching among undergraduate medical students in their fourth and final year of MBBS.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was done using an online Google form of a validated questionnaire after getting permission from authors from 4th and 5th-year MBBS students of Sharif Medical and Dental College, Lahore, in March 2023. The questionnaire tested the four domains, which included the physical environment and the patient’s comfort and attitude toward the patient, the teaching task of the teacher, and group dynamics. Each domain has further 5, 7, 9, and 4 questions using a Likert scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. 
Results: The age range of the participants was between 20 and 25. The response rate was 90% for 4th year and 93 % for the final year. The adequacy of the space and the noisy place were barriers in the physical environment. Patient comfort, attitude toward the patient, and bedside teaching ethics were followed adequately. 
Conclusion: Bedside teaching is an important skill to enhance clinical skill practice, communication skills, and management skills. The decline in bedside teaching can compromise patient management skills for future doctors. Appropriate steps should be taken to rectify the barriers to adequate provision of BST.