“ELECTIVES IN UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL CURRICULUM: A QUESTIONNAIRE-BASED SURVEY TO UNDERSTAND STUDENTS' AWARENESS, PERCEPTIONS AND PREFERENCES FOR ADEQUATE PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION IN INDIAN SETTING”

Background: Medical electives in Indian undergraduate settings is still emerging. This curricular innovation offers indepth learning experiences and diversified skill-development beyond curricular boundaries. To harness its untapped potential and for ensuring learner satisfaction and engagement, a student-centered approach in organization and planning is required. To evaluate awareness, perception, preferences and attitudes of medical- Aims/Objective: undergraduates regarding electives for developing modules as per students' felt-needs. A cross- Study design: sectional, descriptive, questionnaire-based study that utilized an electronic-survey form to gather information. Materials & methods: The pre-validated questionnaire included various sections to elicit responses regarding demographic details, awareness, perceptions and attitudes of undergraduate medicos regarding electives. On study completion, a sensitization programme was conducted. Descriptive statistics was used and categorical-data represented in the form of frequencies and proportions. Out of the 100 participants, nearly 50% of Results: students had a positive outlook towards electives. The most sought-after courses were research (56%), clinical (53%) & superspecialty electives (41%). Electives outside the institution was preferred by 65% of students. Grievances regarding mandatory attendance (47%), assessment and eligibility criteria (44%) for progression to the next phase were expressed. Tailoring electives to students' expectations is a crucial element for optimizing learni Conclusions: ngexperiences.