engleski

Community Health Course

Background: Since 1952 many generations of medical students attended The Community Health Course at University of Zagreb School of medicine, organised by Andrija Štampar School of Public Health. The practical part of the course is performed in rural communities where students work under supervision of local health professionals in out-hospital care and take parts in activities of local county public health institute. Objectives: The course is based on approach in medical education, that main fields of action for physicians are human settlements, not laboratories and consulting rooms. The students attend the course throughout 6 days with 18 seminar hours and 30 hours of practical. They are required to describe and evaluate (using grade from 1-bad to 5- excellent) activities of each course day. Results: Analysis of students (n=225) course evaluation in academic year 2007/08 showed that students were very satisfied with preparatory seminar (98%), final seminar (97%), course content (89%), organisation (90%) and practical work: community nurse service (94%), water sampling (87%), general practice (93%), health promotion activities (93%) and field research (98%). Satisfaction with the course was very emotionally expressed in descriptions and essays, such as: “…practical with community nurse in the poorest area in the poorest county in Croatia changed my life. In only few hours I learned to want less and to give more. Each medical doctor should experience it, because it is a real world.” Conclusions: The course encouraged students to comprehend the importance of communities in the health of individuals and families. Students have opportunity to perceive community inside and outside of health care system, and to study epidemiological and socio-medical determinants of health, throughout activities of health and social care systems.

medical education; community health; evaluation

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