Perception of the Family Adoption Programme Among Undergraduate Medical Students of Three Successive Admission Cohorts at a Medical College in Western India: A Cross-sectional Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55489/njmr.160420261461Keywords:
Education, Medical, Undergraduate, Community Medicine, Perception, Family Adoption ProgrammeAbstract
Background: The Family Adoption Programme (FAP) was introduced by the NMC in the undergraduate MBBS curriculum as a community-based healthcare learning. Advantages of learning in the community as a Classroom include achieving communication skills and understanding the role of customs and cultural factors affecting health. The aim was to assess the perception of students of SMIMER Medical College towards the FAP.
Material and Methods: An assessment of the perception of students of admission years 2021, 2022 & 2023 of SMIMER Medical College was collected by online data collection tool. Perception on the functionality of equipment they used, how the assigned family behaved, teaching quality & guidance, transportation arrangements and helpfulness of FAP included in the questionnaire. Perception was assessed using a Likert scale of one to ten.
Results: Final 485 responses were used to analyse. The average perception of students about their weight measurement skill was 9.2±1.3 with median 9 (8-10). Students found the average helpfulness of FAP in MBBS was 8.8±1.6 with median 9 (8-10) and the average overall experience of students was 8.9±1.5 with median 9 (8-10).
Conclusions: The study indicates that students from SMIMER Medical College have a positive perception for the FAP.
References
1. Hunt JB, Bonham C, Jones L. Understanding the Goals of Service Learning and Community-Based Medical Education: A Systematic Review: Academic Medicine. 2011;86(2):246-251. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0b013e3182046481 PMid:21169780
2. Lee SWW, Clement N, Tang N, Atiomo W. The current provision of community-based teaching in UK medical schools: an online survey and systematic review. BMJ Open. 2014;4(12):e005696. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2014-005696 PMid:25448625 PMCid:PMC4256542
3. Shah HK, Virk AK, Dongre A, Datta SS, Gupta SS. Family Adoption Program: An NMC-mandated Initiative. Indian J Community Med. 2024 Dec;49(Suppl 2):S170-S176. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/ijcm.ijcm_750_24. Erratum in: Indian J Community Med. 2025 Jan-Feb;50(1):264. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/ijcm.ijcm_49_25 PMID: 40124856 PMCID: PMC11927821
4. Yalamanchili V, Uthakalla V, Naidana S, Kalapala A, Venkata P, Yendapu R. Family adoption programme for medical undergraduates in India - The way ahead: A qualitative exploration of stakeholders' perceptions. Indian J Community Med. 2023;48(1):142-146. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/ijcm.ijcm_831_22 PMid:37082407 PMCid:PMC10112757
5. Shikha S, Kumar A, Begum J, Ali SI, Tripathy S. Family Adoption Program for Undergraduate Medical Students at a New Medical School of Jharkhand: An Experience and SWOC Analysis. Indian J Community Med. 2024 Jan-Feb;49(1):218-222. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/ijcm.ijcm_954_22 PMid:38425981 PMCid:PMC10900477
6. Gordon MJ. A review of the validity and accuracy of self-assessments in health professions training. Acad Med. 1991 Dec;66(12):762-769. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/00001888-199112000-00012 PMid:1750956
7. Suwetha, Santhanam J, Kasthuri A. Opinion, perception and attitude towards family adoption program among MBBS students: a cross-sectional study. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2026;13(6):3069-3076. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20261798
8. Ganganahalli P, Yankanchi SG, Yadavannavar M, Udgiri R. Perception and Impact of the Family Adoption Program (FAP) Among Indian Medical Students: Benefits and Challenges. Cureus. 16(11):e73893. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.73893 PMID: 39697954 PMCID: PMC11653125
9. Chepuru R, Sushma KS, Vadlamani S, Manasa RV, Vennam BS. Family adoption program (FAP) as a learning tool-perceptions of students and faculty of community medicine. J Family Med Prim Care. 2025;14(1):51-55. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_510_24 PMid:39989521 PMCid:PMC11844948
10. Thayyil J, Lakshmanan MT, Salam A, Palakkunnath S. Perception of under graduate medical students on the family adoption program. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2025;12(5):2241-2246. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20251382
11. Reshmi PS, Lunagariya R, Patel H, Patel N, Chauhan D, Patel R. Qualitative Study to Identify Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Challenges of Family Adoption Programs among Students. Indian J Community Med. 2024 Jul-Aug;49(4):610-616. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/ijcm.ijcm_58_23 PMid:39291104 PMCid:PMC11404424
12. Kumar D, Bhaiya HK, Sahu S. Challenges and Opportunities in the Implementation of the Family Adoption Program Under the Competency-Based Medical Education in India: A Qualitative Study. Cureus. 2026;18(1):e102748. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.102748
13. Reshmi PS, Patel GK, Patel HK, Prajapati PR, Lunagariya RT, Gupta KI, et al. An Investigation of the Effectiveness of the Family Adoption Program Among Undergraduate Medical Students. Cureus. 2025 Sep 17;17(9):e92582. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.92582 PMid:41111665 PMCid:PMC12534525
14. Landge J, Kasbe S, Singh R, Satardekar A. Experience of Family Adoption Programme Implementation in Phase I MBBS Curriculum in a Medical College of Western India: Family Adoption Programme Implementation. GAIMS J MED SCI. 2023 Jul. 18;3(2 (Jul-Dec):74-79.
15. Baruah A, Choudhari SG. Perceptions of Stakeholders and the Way Forward to Implementing the Family Adoption Programme in Medical Education: A Study From Assam, India. Cureus. 2024 Jul 1;16(7):e63586. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.63586 PMID: 39087166 PMCID: PMC11290375
16. Vanikar A, Kumar V. Unique Program of Indian Undergraduate Medical Education - Family Adoption Through Village Outreach. Indian J Community Med. 2024 May-Jun;49(3):459-460. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/ijcm.ijcm_273_24 PMid:38933796 PMCid:PMC11198532
17. Inkane S, Joshi A, Dhole A. Exploring The Scope of Participatory Rural Appraisal in Family Adoption Program for MBBS Students in India. Natl J Community Med. 2023;14(12):876-877. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55489/njcm.141220233313
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Nisarg S Goswami, Neeta Sharma, Hinalkumari Narendrabhai Chudasama

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Author/s retain the copyright of their article, with first publication rights granted to Medsci Publications.
