Satisfaction survey of early clinical exposure in medical students: a cross-sectional study

Introduction: Early clinical exposure (ECE) is a teaching method that fosters the exposure of medical students to the patients in their early years of medical school. ECE motivates students in various ways, improving their academic performance, clinical skills, communication, and confidence. This study looks at how third-year medical students view the ECE program over the long term. Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted involving 93 third-year medical students participating in an ECE program from December to March 2023 in the emergency ward. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire in two phases, immediately after the ECE program and after the students officially transitioned to the clinical training in the conventional curriculum. For qualitative analysis, Colaizzi’s seven-step method was employed. The Mann–Whitney U and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to compare satisfaction scores by gender and phase of study. Results: Out of 93 participants, 80 completed the questionnaire. Initial responses showed high satisfaction, with 93.75% of students reporting high satisfaction scores in terms of benefits for the clinical years, helping to adapt to the clinical environment, and giving confidence. However, after officially transitioning into clinical training, long-term survey shows high satisfaction scores significantly declined to 76.25% (P value = 0.001). No significant association was observed between gender and satisfaction with the ECE program overall. Qualitative feedback highlighted the effectiveness of ECE in helping students adapt to the clinical environment, the need for prolonged interaction with supervisors, and the integration of ECE across all courses. Discussion: The ECE program significantly improved students’ confidence and orientation to clinical environments. The observed decline in long-term satisfaction suggests a gap between the structured ECE experience and the complexities of real clinical practice. However, integration of ECE with the conventional medical education curriculum is essential to sustain students’ motivation and confidence from the early years of college.