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Breathlessness, aches and pains, abdominal discomfort and hoarse voice! These may sound like the clinical presentation of COVID‐19, but Nay! These are the symptoms experienced by the countless health professions education (HPE) teachers who have suddenly been thrust into the online world to engage learners.

The twenty-first century higher education sector has come a long way after undergoing continuous metamorphosis from pedagogy to andragogy. Most of the educational approaches adopted in medical schools are directed towards developing more of competencies and less of capability, which is the ability to use competencies in novel contexts. Competencies alone are not sufficient to thrive in the present day work place as medical profession subsumes complex contexts; it is in this scenario that, medical educators are entrusted with the challenging task of developing "capable learners". In the heutagogical approach, learners are required to decide upon what to learn and how to learn and therefore the control of the learning process is on the learner and the role of the teacher becomes that of a navigator. This paper highlights the current higher educational practices based on heutagogy, considers its application in the context of Problem-based learning and also discusses a few challenges in incorporating this approach in the existing undergraduate medical curriculum. The article proposes the use of social media in order to support learner autonomy, which in turn improves learners' cognitive engagement with content and tasks, thereby assisting the development of attributes associated with capability.

Objective To investigate students' perceptions of problem-based learning in the acquisition of relevant knowledge, generic skills and attitudes in a setting where this is a vital component of the medical undergraduate hybrid curriculum. Methods 464 undergraduate medical students in four consecutive batches (two in the first year and two in the second year of the medicine programme) at Melaka Manipal Medical College were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. A pre-validated questionnaire with 15 items classified into three domains addressing acquisition of knowledge, generic skills and attitudes was developed and administered to all students, who responded on a five-point Likert scale. Results Problem-based learning improved the students' acquisition of knowledge, generic skills and attitudes, with positive correlations (0.451–0.72) between scores in all three domains. Problem-based learning affected not only typical competence in interpersonal and cognitive domains but also more general work-related skills considered important for success in professional practice. Conclusions Problem-based learning in small groups provided students with a favourable, safe environment for developing the necessary skills and attitudes. This study not only fills a gap but also shows the advantages of problem-based learning as perceived by students in a hybrid medical curriculum.

Context and setting Most medical schools in India do not emphasise the importance of scientific research skills in the undergraduate medical curriculum despite the fact that it is essential for students to understand scientific methods of critically evaluating the evidence that will assist their decision making during their medical careers. In recognition of this need on the part of medical students, a mentored student project (MSP) programme was implemented in an Indian medical school in 2008 for a batch of medical students. Why the idea was necessary It is essential to inculcate critical thinking and reasoning skills and to develop a positive attitude among medical students towards scientific research from the beginning of their medical careers. As scientific research is rapidly evolving from its status as a largely individual endeavour to that of a highly collaborative, interdisciplinary activity, research training for undergraduate medical students should also inculcate the spirit of teamwork. At present, there is no formal path by which medical students in India can become doctor-scientists or academicians. What was done In the MSP programme, students (n = 113), guided by a teaching faculty member (mentor), were required to undertake a project involving in-depth study of an area of their interest, write a scholarly report and present the work as a poster presentation. To encourage the spirit of teamwork, students were grouped (n = 3–5) and each group was asked to select a research project in the form of a library study, laboratory research, medical records study, case study or field project. To examine the students’ perceptions regarding improvements in their research skills after participating in the MSP, a questionnaire consisting of 16 items related to the research skills gained by undertaking projects and the guidance received from the mentor (using a 5-point Likert scale) was developed. Students were requested to indicate their responses on the questionnaire and to describe their previous research experience, if any. Student responses were summarised using percentages. The median grade and interquartile range were reported for each item. A comparison of overall research skills gained with those based on previous research experience was performed using the chisquared test. Evaluation of results and impact The median grade for all items related to improvements in research skills was 4, which indicates that the majority of students felt the MSP had increased their research skills. Type of project and previous research experience were not significantly related to the improvement in overall skills. It was encouraging to find that 80% of the respondents had received appropriate guidance from their mentors. A total of 61% of students agreed that the MSP should be a mandatory requirement for the completion of the MBBS degree at our institution, which suggests that the non-funded MSP programme was successful in fostering a positive attitude towards scientific research. The present study provided scope for the further refinement of the MSP programme based on students’ perspectives.

Background: The attendance mandate for the medical course in Melaka Manipal Medical College, Manipal, India was increased from 75% to 90% based on the assumption that the mandatory increase will improve the students' performance. Aims: To find out whether there is any correlation between class attendance and academic performance. Subjects and Methods: This was an institution based retrospective analytical study. Students who have completed Phase I (first two and a half years) of the MBBS course were included in the study. Student marks and attendance, from the database were obtained from three random batches, each, from two clusters A and B respectively. Those who had a mandatory attendance requirement of 75% belonged to A ( n = 243), and those who had a mandatory attendance percentage of 90% belonged to B ( n = 360). Statistical analyses performed included, Pearson 2 tailed correlation to correlate class attendance with student performance; Cluster analysis to classify group average in a similarity matrix; t -test to determine significance of difference in percentage of students who attained 100% when the college changed mandatory attendance from 75% to 90%; Mann-Whitney test to find out if there was a better performance in university exam when attendance policy changed. Results: There was a significant correlation between attendance and the students who passed in the University exam. The number of students in the pass category was maximum (>90%) compared to students in distinction and failed categories. Percentage of students with 100% attendance rose from 4% ( n = 10) to 11% ( n = 40) when the mandatory attendance was increased from 75% to 90%. Conclusions: Attendance policy correlated with better academic performance. Reducing absenteeism, probably contributed to the improved academic performance of the students. But the link between attendance and best and worst performances could not be predicted because of small numbers in every batch.