Abstract

Background: Many studies were conducted among medical students to assess the implementation of a new competency-based medical education (CBME) curriculum. Studies assessing the CBME examination pattern are limited.

Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the experiences and the challenges faced by the medical students in our government medical college, Kadapa while implementing the new CBME examination pattern in pharmacology for the MBBS batch 2023–2024 students.

Materials and Methods: A questionnaire containing 20 questions was shared through WhatsApp to 2nd MBBS students through Google Forms with ten descriptive questions having and other ten questions using Likert scale. The time-period provided for answering the questions was 1 week. The data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel sheet by Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences software.

Results: Above 80% of the students were in the opinion that the new CBME theory examination pattern was good. About 20% of the students were in the opinion that few modifications are necessary in the pharmacology theory examination papers. In five-point Likert scale, we got an average mean score of “4” showing that above 95% of the students were in the opinion that the new CBME practical examinations were good.

Conclusion: Most of the students were in opinion that the new CBME examination pattern was good and reached to them in the right way. However, a few minor changes are necessary in the new examination pattern for both theory and practicals to make it 100% perfect and right.

Key words: Questionnaire; Competency-Based Medical Education Examination Pattern; Pharmacology Theory and Practical Examinations