Impact of Structured Early Clinical Exposure on Confidence and Competence among Undergraduate Health Science Students in Islamabad
Clinical Exposure on Student Confidence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54393/pjhs.v6i6.3231Keywords:
Early Clinical Exposure, Clinical Confidence, Undergraduate Health Sciences, Medical Education, Self-AssessmentAbstract
Transitioning from classroom to clinical settings can be overwhelming for undergraduate health sciences students. Early Clinical Exposure (ECE) has been proposed to enhance confidence and competence during early training, yet its impact remains under-evaluated in local contexts. Objective: To assess the effect of structured early clinical exposure on the self-reported confidence and perceived competence of undergraduate medical, dental, and nursing students. Methods: This quasi-experimental pretest-posttest study was conducted from November 2024 to April 2025 at Rawal Institute of Health Sciences, Islamabad. A total of 71 students from 3rd, 4th, and final year were enrolled through convenience sampling. Participants completed a validated self-assessment questionnaire before and after a structured ECE session, which included classroom orientation, ward rotations, bedside interaction, and debriefing. The tool was pilot tested and showed strong internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.86). Paired t-tests and chi-square tests were used for analysis (p < 0.05). Results: Post-intervention scores showed significant improvements across all five domains of clinical confidence, including history taking, communication, examination skills, case presentation, and anxiety management (p < 0.001). Gender was significantly associated with comfort in ward settings and understanding hospital hierarchy. No significant differences were observed across academic years. Conclusions: Structured early clinical exposure significantly enhanced students’ clinical confidence and preparedness across domains. Integrating ECE into undergraduate curricula can foster smoother transitions into clinical environments.
References
Tayade MC and Latti RG. Effectiveness of early clinical exposure in medical education: Settings and scientific theories-Review. Journal of Education and Health Promotion. 2021 Jan; 10(1): 117. doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_988_20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/jehp.jehp_988_20
Velou MS and Ahila E. Expectations and challenges of early clinical exposure programme for first year medical students in India. International Archives of Integrated Medicine. 2020 Aug; 7(8).
Ewnte B and Yigzaw T. Early clinical exposure in medical education: the experience from Debre Tabor University. BioMed Central Medical Education. 2023 Apr; 23(1): 252. doi: 10.1186/s12909-023-04221-4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-023-04221-4
Abouzeid E, Fouad S, Wasfy NF, Alkhadragy R, Hefny M, Kamal D. Influence of personality traits and learning styles on undergraduate medical students' academic achievement. Advances in Medical Education and Practice. 2021 Jul: 769-77. doi: 10.2147/AMEP.S314644. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2147/AMEP.S314644
Limchareon S, Sukme C, Dinchuthai P, Pattrakornkul N, Panichyawat S. Impact of early clinical exposure for second year medical students at Burapha University.
Kalusopa VM, Katowa-Mukwato P, Chitundu K, Mvula M, Nzala S, Kabinga-Makukula M et al. Experiences of early and enhanced clinical exposure for postgraduate neonatal Nursing students at the University of Zambia, school of nursing sciences: Lessons and implications for the future. Open Journal of Nursing. 2023 Jun; 13(6): 352. doi: 10.4236/ojn.2023.136024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/ojn.2023.136024
Sellberg M, Palmgren PJ, Möller R. -A cross-sectional study of clinical learning environments across four undergraduate programs using the undergraduate clinical education environment measure. BioMed Central Medical Education. 2021 May; 21(1): 258. doi: 10.1186/s12909-021-02687-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-021-02687-8
Kimura T, Kojo K, Shiga M, Chihara I, Ikeda A, Kandori S et al. Impact of early exposure to simulation program on undergraduate medical students' interest in urology. Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development. 2021 May; 8: 23821205211020750. doi: 10.1177/23821205211020750. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/23821205211020750
Javed MT, Wahid A, Masood B, Jodat A, Sheikh QM, Anjum A. Impact of Early Clinical Exposure on Communication Skills and Confidence Levels in Pre-Clinical Medical Students. Pakistan Journal of Medical & Health Sciences. 2023 Aug; 17(08): 144-. doi: 10.53350/pjmhs2023178144.
AkbariRad M, Khadem-Rezaiyan M, Ravanshad S, Rafiee M, Firoozi A, Zolfaghari SA et al. Early clinical exposure as a highly interesting educational program for undergraduate medical students: an interventional study. BioMed Central Medical Education. 2023 May; 23(1): 292. doi: 10.1186/s12909-023-04244-x. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-023-04244-x
White LW, Jordan KE, McDermott H. Assessment of student readiness for clinical education in mixed-mode curriculum delivery: a case study. Quality Assurance in Education. 2023 Jan; 31(1): 151-66. doi: 10.1108/QAE-02-2022-0044. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/QAE-02-2022-0044
Kreepala C, Sonjaipanich S, Kusumaphanyo C, Raksamani K. The Comparison between Problems Based Learning and Early Clinical Exposure on the Readiness of Medical Students for Clinical Study The Students' Perspective. 2021 May.
Aggarwal N, Bansal N, Mahajan R, Verma N, Gupta M. Perception analysis of an early clinical exposure module in anatomy for first year undergraduate medical students in a North Indian medical college. Journal of Education Technology in Health Sciences. 2021 May; 8(1): 26-32. doi: 10.18231/j.jeths.2021.006. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18231/j.jeths.2021.006
Liu CI, Tang KP, Wang YC, Chiu CH. Impacts of early clinical exposure on undergraduate student professionalism-a qualitative study. BioMed Central Medical Education. 2022 Jun; 22(1): 435. doi: 10.1186/s12909-022-03505-5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03505-5
Klumpp S, Rocha I, Cyrus A, Bear C, DeYoung J, Mithil G et al. Impact of Early Procedural Exposure on Pre-clinical Medical Students' Confidence. Cureus. 2025; 17(1). doi: 10.7759/cureus.77411. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.77411
Reddi RS, Ambareesha K, Alekhya B. Evaluating the Impact of Early Clinical Exposure on First-Year Mbbs Students: A Comparative Study. International Journal of Academic Medicine and Pharmacy. 2025; 7(2): 183-9. doi: 10.47009/jamp.2025.7.2.38.
Yu JH, Chang HJ, Kim SS, Park JE, Chung WY, Lee SK et al. Effects of high-fidelity simulation education on medical students' anxiety and confidence. PLOS One. 2021 May; 16(5): e0251078. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251078. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251078
Maheshwari U. Role of early clinical exposure for clinical training among medical undergraduate students. International Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Research. 2023 Oct; 10(3): 184-186. doi: 10.18231/j.ijcbr.2023.032. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18231/j.ijcbr.2023.032
Farajpour A, Salehi A, Mashoufi R, Bakhshi Bejestani A. Medical students' reflection on early clinical exposure experience: a qualitative research. Strides in Development of Medical Education. 2024 Feb; 21(1): 113-20. doi: 10.22062/sdme.2024.199578.1353. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3239987/v1
Kachuei M, Rezazadeh M, Hoseinzadeh M, Hashemi A, Mousavi AS, Heidari A. Satisfaction survey of early clinical exposure in medical students: a cross-sectional study. 2024 Dec. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5677524/v1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5677524/v1
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Pakistan Journal of Health Sciences
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This is an open-access journal and all the published articles / items are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. For comments
