Diagnostic grand rounds in undergraduate medical education

not connected with the project. Evaluation of results and impact The low performers included 15 men and 6 women aged 19–20 years. All came from high socio-economic backgrounds and had gained high scores in their entrance examinations. Non-academic causes of low performance were stress resulting from language problems (8 ⁄21 students), problems in adjusting to life away from home (6 ⁄21), lack of self-confidence (12 ⁄21), fear of failure (8 ⁄21) and worry about the future (10 ⁄21). Academic problems included difficulty in managing study time (17 ⁄21), lack of concentration (10 ⁄21), inability to retain what was studied (10 ⁄21), examination anxiety (8 ⁄21), inability to write examinations (5 ⁄21), etc. Analysis by paired t-test revealed a statistically significant improvement in the post-programme performance of the 16 students who participated in the sessions (P < 0.001). The preand post-programme performances of the 6 low performers who did not participate in the project showed no statistically significant difference (P 1⁄4 0.518, Wilcoxon signed rank test). A post-programme questionnaire was administered to assess the participants’ response to the intervention. The response was positive and majority of them felt that the sessions had helped to improve their performance (average score 3.63 ⁄6.00), change their study behaviour (3.69 ⁄6.00) and change their attitude (3.50 ⁄6.00). They felt that the strong point of this programme was that it gave them more confidence and boosted their self-esteem. It was concluded that poor performers can benefit from individually tailored remedial programmes which include counselling and training in study skills, along with good mentor support.