Tanu Anand1, Jugal Kishore2, Gopal Krishna Ingle3, Shekhar Grover4. 1. Department of Community Medicine, North Delhi Municipal Corporation Medical College, Hindu Rao Hospital, New Delhi, India. 2. Department of Community Medicine, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College, New Delhi, India. 3. Department of Community Medicine, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India. 4. Division of Clinical Oncology, National Institute of Cancer Prevention and Research, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Abstract
Background: Graphic narratives can give medical and nursing students a broader concept of health and illness. However, graphic texts are not yet integrated into medical education in India. The present study was undertaken to assess the perception of medical and nursing undergraduate students about the use of comics in health professions' education. Methods: This study was an institution-based cross-sectional study conducted among 130 medical and 108 nursing students of a medical and nursing college, respectively, in Central Delhi. A pretested self-administered questionnaire containing items to assess knowledge and perception about graphic medicine in medical education was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16.0. Results: The mean age of students was 20.82 ± 1.51 years. Out of the 238 students, only 21.8% had heard about graphic medicine. However, 76.9% (n = 183) of students agreed that comics should be used in health professions' education. When asked about the subjects in which comic strips can be useful, the majority of medical students wanted them to be used in teaching community medicine (n = 95; 73.1%), while nursing students more often indicated their use in anatomy (n = 59; 54.6%). Overall large proportion of both nursing and medical students opined that comics aid in better understanding (58.8%) and memorization of concepts and content (57.6%). The majority of respondents felt that comic designing requires expertise (67.6%). Students also stated that comic strips on communicable diseases and reproductive and child health could be developed and used in teaching the subject of community medicine/public health. Discussion: Majority of students felt that comics should be used in medical education in India, preferably for teaching community medicine. Further, maternal and child health are important topics that can be taught using comics in public health. There is a need to explore ways for integrating graphic medicine into health professions' education.
Background: Graphic narratives can give medical and nursing students a broader concept of health and illness. However, graphic texts are not yet integrated into medical education in India. The present study was undertaken to assess the perception of medical and nursing undergraduate students about the use of comics in health professions' education. Methods: This study was an institution-based cross-sectional study conducted among 130 medical and 108 nursing students of a medical and nursing college, respectively, in Central Delhi. A pretested self-administered questionnaire containing items to assess knowledge and perception about graphic medicine in medical education was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16.0. Results: The mean age of students was 20.82 ± 1.51 years. Out of the 238 students, only 21.8% had heard about graphic medicine. However, 76.9% (n = 183) of students agreed that comics should be used in health professions' education. When asked about the subjects in which comic strips can be useful, the majority of medical students wanted them to be used in teaching community medicine (n = 95; 73.1%), while nursing students more often indicated their use in anatomy (n = 59; 54.6%). Overall large proportion of both nursing and medical students opined that comics aid in better understanding (58.8%) and memorization of concepts and content (57.6%). The majority of respondents felt that comic designing requires expertise (67.6%). Students also stated that comic strips on communicable diseases and reproductive and child health could be developed and used in teaching the subject of community medicine/public health. Discussion: Majority of students felt that comics should be used in medical education in India, preferably for teaching community medicine. Further, maternal and child health are important topics that can be taught using comics in public health. There is a need to explore ways for integrating graphic medicine into health professions' education.
Entities:
Keywords:
Comics; graphic medicine; medical education; public health