Designing and assessing the impact of a competency-based training program in transfusion medicine among MBBS interns

Introduction

It has been widely recognized that there is a pressing need to strengthen transfusion medicine education for both undergraduate and postgraduate medical trainees across various clinical specialties to enhance patient safety. In response to this, the National Medical Commission (NMC) of India implemented a competency-based medical education (CBME) framework in 2019 for undergraduate MBBS students across all medical colleges in the country. The present study aimed to assess the impact of a training program designed for medical interns, developed in alignment with the CBME curriculum prescribed by the NMC.

Materials and methods

This was a questionnaire-based cross-sectional study conducted among MBBS interns undergoing rotatory training in different departments of a tertiary care teaching hospital. A structured two-day educational program was organized, comprising six modules—three focusing on bedside transfusion practices and three addressing blood donation and laboratory-based transfusion medicine. Each module was designed to reflect the competencies outlined in the CBME curriculum and included pre- and post-training assessments to evaluate knowledge improvement. A pre-test was conducted to assess the knowledge of transfusion medicine among the participants and the post-test was conducted to assess the impact of the training program.

Results

Overall, the pre-test score in the present study was 14.1 (47%) which increased to 22.3 (77.6%) in the post-test. Analysis of the pre-test scores showed that 80% of the interns had weak knowledge of blood transfusion reactions and its management. 55.6% of the interns had weak knowledge of indications of blood component therapy whereas 32.2% of the interns had weak knowledge of bedside transfusion medicine practices. 73.3% of the interns had weak knowledge of blood donor selection and counselling. 62.3% of the interns and 73.3% of the interns had weak knowledge of transfusion transmitted infections and basic blood banking including compatibility testing and storage conditions for various blood components, respectively. Post-training results showed a significant improvement across all domains. Effect size analysis using Cohen’s d indicated that the training program was highly effective in five out of six domains, with moderate effectiveness observed in the domain of immunohematology.

Conclusion

Although transfusion medicine knowledge is essential for routine practice in core medical and surgical specialties, a substantial knowledge gap exists among medical interns. This study demonstrates that a structured, CBME program is an effective strategy to improve transfusion medicine knowledge among MBBS interns.