Abstract
Background: Community engagement is an important aspect of a successful rural placement.
Materials and Methods: In this study, medical students undertaking longitudinal integrated clerkships at a rural clinical school instigated community engagement activities with a special school. Six health education sessions were delivered to eight adolescent special school students. This paper describes the perceptions of medical students and special school teachers in relation to the effect of this program on medical student personal and professional development, its acceptability by special school teachers, and the factors which contributed to the program outcomes. Two separate focus groups were conducted with seven medical students and two special school teachers.
Results: Theme 1: Symbiotic nature of the program. There was perceived improvement in the medical students’ communication, leadership and teaching skills, and their understanding of working with people with disabilities. Special school teachers noted benefits to their students from the health expertise and role modelling provided. The university experienced enhanced links with the community. Theme 2: Factors that contributed to the success of this community engagement activity. All parties wanted to engage in the program. Valuable time was spent developing relationships and preparing with all stakeholders. Constructive teamwork was paramount.
Discussion: Involvement in this program gave students a unique opportunity to develop skills in professionalism that are essential to working as health practitioners but difficult for universities to teach. The voluntary nature of the initiative was novel, promoting this skill development and enhancing the effectiveness of the program. The factors that contributed to the success of this program are potentially applicable to other settings.
Conclusion: This initiative was highly acceptable to the special school teachers involved and was perceived to have positive effects on medical student personal and professional development.
Materials and Methods: In this study, medical students undertaking longitudinal integrated clerkships at a rural clinical school instigated community engagement activities with a special school. Six health education sessions were delivered to eight adolescent special school students. This paper describes the perceptions of medical students and special school teachers in relation to the effect of this program on medical student personal and professional development, its acceptability by special school teachers, and the factors which contributed to the program outcomes. Two separate focus groups were conducted with seven medical students and two special school teachers.
Results: Theme 1: Symbiotic nature of the program. There was perceived improvement in the medical students’ communication, leadership and teaching skills, and their understanding of working with people with disabilities. Special school teachers noted benefits to their students from the health expertise and role modelling provided. The university experienced enhanced links with the community. Theme 2: Factors that contributed to the success of this community engagement activity. All parties wanted to engage in the program. Valuable time was spent developing relationships and preparing with all stakeholders. Constructive teamwork was paramount.
Discussion: Involvement in this program gave students a unique opportunity to develop skills in professionalism that are essential to working as health practitioners but difficult for universities to teach. The voluntary nature of the initiative was novel, promoting this skill development and enhancing the effectiveness of the program. The factors that contributed to the success of this program are potentially applicable to other settings.
Conclusion: This initiative was highly acceptable to the special school teachers involved and was perceived to have positive effects on medical student personal and professional development.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 20-25 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Australian Medical Student Journal |
Volume | 8 |
Issue number | 2 |
Publication status | Published - 15 Apr 2018 |