Original Research
Perceptions of medical students regarding community-based teaching experiences: an observation from Bangladesh
AUTHORS
S.M.Moslehuddin Ahmed1 MPhil, Professor
Md. Nayeemul Hasan2 MPhil, Associate Professor
Russell Kabir3 PhD, Senior Lecturer
S M Yasir Arafat4 MSc, Assistant Professor
Sayeeda Rahman5 PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Public Health
Mainul Haque6 MPhil, Professor
Md. Anwarul Azim Majumder7 PhD, Director of Medical Education *
AFFILIATIONS
1, 2 Department of Community Medicine, Uttara Adhunik Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh
3 School of Allied Health, Faculty of Health, Education, Medicine and Social Care, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, United Kingdom
4 Department of Psychiatry, CARe Medical College, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh
5 School of Medicine, American University of Integrative Sciences, Bridgetown, Barbados
6 Unit of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine and Defense Health, National Defense University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
7 Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados, West Indies
ACCEPTED: 12 April 2019
early abstract:
Introduction: Community orientation in medical education (COME), which prepares medical students to become more effective practitioners, is now a global movement. Many medical schools around the world have adopted the concept as the main curricular framework in order to align learning programmes with the needs of the community and the learner. Despite many changes over the last few decades, many improvements are still needed in medical education in Bangladesh. This study investigated medical students’ perceptions of the community-based learning experiences incorporated into the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree at Uttara Adhunik Medical College (UAMC), Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Methods: A total of 135 students from three undergraduate year levels of the Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Surgery degree at Uttara Adhunik Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh, undertook study tours (community-based teaching, CBT) as a part of a community medicine course and visited a medical college, two rural health centres and a Meteorology Centre in the Cox’s Bazar district, 250 miles from Dhaka city. A questionnaire was used to assessthe perceptions of students regarding the administration, organization and learning experiences of the study tours. Students were required to write reports, present their findings and answer questions in their examinations related to the study tours and community-based teaching.
Results: Majority of the students agreed or strongly agreed that the tour was a worthwhile (93%) and enjoyable learning experience (95%) that helped them to understand rural health issues (91%). More than half of the students reported that the study tours increased their awareness about common rural health problems (54%) and provided a wider exposure to medicine (61%).Only forty-one percent of students reported that the study tour increased their interest in undertake training in a rural area. A substantial number of students also expressed their concerns about the planning, length, resources, finance, and organization of the study tours.
Conclusion: Overall, the study tours had a positive effect – enhanced students’ awareness and understanding of common rural health problems. As study tours failed to increase the motivation of the students (approximately 60%) to work in the rural areas, CBT in medical curriculum should be reviewed and implemented using effective and evidence-based models to promote interest among medical students to work in rural and underserved or unserved areas.