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Helping tomorrow's doctors to gain a population health perspective – good news for community stakeholders
Author(s) -
Howe Amanda,
Billingham Kate,
Walters Christina
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
medical education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.776
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1365-2923
pISSN - 0308-0110
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2923.2002.01172.x
Subject(s) - public relations , context (archaeology) , health care , curriculum , population , medical education , diversity (politics) , medicine , nursing , psychology , sociology , political science , pedagogy , paleontology , environmental health , anthropology , law , biology
The modernising agenda of the NHS and recommendations of professional bodies demand that all doctors achieve a basic understanding of a population health perspective. The principle of integrated learning and the logistics of provision make it inappropriate for such learning to be delivered solely by public health specialists, and community‐based learning has been promoted as the best setting in which to assist this objective. However, there is little evidence from practice as to whether non‐specialist staff are willing or able to play a role in orienting tomorrow's doctors to the needs of communities. Methods Semi‐structured interviews, questionnaires and focus groups iterated the opinion of key stakeholders on their preferred contributions to community‐oriented undergraduate medical education. Framework analysis was used to elicit key outcomes and process factors. Results There was consensus that community‐based learning should be a core element of the medical curriculum as it can demonstrate the socioenvironmental context of care and the doctor's role in interagency working and preventive care. Effective academic/NHS partnerships were called for, with higher education leading the agenda on aims and objectives, creating collaborative structures, and reallocating resources to support new learning. Community‐based stakeholders would offer the translation of theory into practice by demonstrating clinical and social diversity, models of teamworking, and a context for the application of prior learning. They also promoted recurrent contact with communities, and suggested an enhanced role in mentoring students through longer term relationships. Conclusion Community‐based personnel and NHS users are an under‐used resource for medical education. Their proposed contributions strongly accord with the agenda for a population health perspective in basic training. Curriculum planners need to make long‐term partnerships with community‐based agencies, rather than using them as an intermittent provider of limited learning sessions with narrowly defined objectives.