Training undergraduate medical students in trauma management skills

Trauma has been ranked as one of the commonest cause accounting for untimely deaths, disabilities, sufferings and impairment in the quality of life. The aim of the review was to explore the status and the ways in which trauma management skills can be taught to undergraduate medical students. An extensive search of all materials related to the topic was carried out in the PubMed search engine and World Health Organization website using the keywords trauma, undergraduate, and medical education. A total of four articles were selected based upon the suitability with the current review objectives. The teaching of trauma evaluation and management has to be regarded as one of the most essential, yet undermined field in the medical institutions. From the medical college perspective, the task of training undergraduate medical students in trauma management is definitely a challenging one. However, considering that the initial time after a trauma is the golden period for saving the life of a person, which is actually being managed by a junior doctor, we have to find out a way for bridging the existing lacuna in the curriculum. In conclusion, trauma management is an essential and integral aspect of undergraduate medical training. However, in the present scenario, it has been neglected in most of the medical institutions due to various reasons. The need of the hour is to formulate specific competencies, go ahead with curriculum mapping and ensure that students are trained and competent before they land into clinical practice.