Interprofessional Modules for Teaching Skills in Skill Labs

Clinical skills laboratories are educational facilities that have the potential benefit for undergraduate and postgraduate medical students and medical staff. They provide a safe and protected environment in which the learner can practice clinical skills before using them in real clinical settings. These skills laboratories help to ensure that all students acquire the necessary techniques and are properly assessed before practicing on real patients. In addition, they support the acquisition, maintenance and enhancement of the clinical skills of students in the healthcare profession. Teaching skills in skill lab require a standardized module for each skill that can be applied to all the students universally.The study was started with the aim to solve a problem that has arisen as National Medical Council (NMC) has announced implementation of Competency based medical education (CBME) a new syllabus for medical education from 2019 MBBS batch that includes skill teaching. Faculty in various Medical colleges is not trained in developing modules and teaching skills to students in skill lab. There are no standardized teaching modules for skills training in skill laboratories.As part of the project we decided to develop modules for the two competencies to be taught in the skill lab for the subject Otorhinolaryngology i.e. Otoscopy and Anterior Nasal packing; NMC guidelines being the benchmark in developing these modules. Later modules were also to be implemented on sample students to get a feedback on the structure of the module for further improvement.These modules developed as part of the project will help as a baseline tool for developing other modules in different subjects by various Institutes.