Leprosy orientation for final year medical students

An orientation in leprosy was undertaken for final year medical students by Schieffelin Institute of Health – Research, Leprosy Centre (SIH-RLC), Karigiri with the objective of transferring knowledge and skills related to the diagnosis and treatment of leprosy and its complications, so that these would be useful later when they have to deal with patients affected by leprosy, especially in the Primary Health Centres.

The Leprosy orientation program was of one-day duration and was organised in three Government Medical Colleges every year between 2016 to 2018. Pre and post-test questionnaires were used to assess leprosy knowledge before and after the orientation. During the orientation the facilitators transferred knowledge and skills required for management of leprosy through interactive and practical sessions. Each participant was followed up two years later when a simple questionnaire was sent to them to assess the impact of the leprosy orientation in diagnosis and management of leprosy in their respective work areas. The questionnaire was sent as a link to the medical student’s mobile phones for their responses.

The pre and post test scores showed significant improvements. This difference was statistically significant. The follow-up questionnaire showed that students who underwent this leprosy training were able to diagnose and treat leprosy in their work area. Leprosy orientation also helped them to identify and treat leprosy complications/or refer patients to appropriate centres for further management.

Selective and targeted training of final year medical students helped to improve their knowledge and skills to diagnose and treat leprosy and its complications later in their work situations, especially in the Government Primary Health Centres (PHC).