Use of high-fidelity simulator for teaching cardiovascular physiology principles to the 1st year undergraduate medical students

Medical education has undergone significant changes all over the world and patient safety is one of the main reasons for the changes. The new competency-based medical curriculum in India also emphasises early clinical exposure along with the acquisition of competent and verifiable skills. The objective of this study was as follows: (1) to introduce the 1st year medical students to simulation-based learning (SBL) to develop their knowledge, skills, and communication and meet the desired learning objectives without exposing subjects to any harm and gain valuable immersive experience that felt real and (2) to obtain students feedback about SBL in learning applied aspects of physiology. The study was approved by the Institutional Ethical Committee. A total of 132 1st year medical students were divided into six batches and each batch was exposed to a pre-test, simulation exercise, a debriefing session, post-test, and feedback. Descriptive analysis of the data was done and values were expressed as mean and standard deviation. The McNemar test was used to study the effectiveness of SBL. The average pre-test and post-test correct responses were 64.6% and 77.5%, respectively. This difference was found to be highly significant with P < 0.001. The mean pre-test score and post-test scores were 6.46 ± 1.39 and 7.75 ± 1.52, respectively, with P < 0.001. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Positive feedback was received from the students with 86.8% of them strongly agreeing to the incorporation of simulation-based activities in the curriculum. About 76.7% strongly agreed to a self-perceived increase in their decision-making, communication, and teamwork skills. Perception of the simulation as a realistic experience was perceived by 74.4% of the students. SBL is an effective tool for learning applied physiology and was viewed by the students with interest. It also enhanced their understanding of the pathophysiological basis of the clinical scenario.