Factors influencing choice of site for rural clinical placements by final year medical students in a South African university
Date
2017-04
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AOSIS publishing
Abstract
Background: Most of South Africa’s citizens who live in rural or underserved communities
rely on the public health care sector to access quality health care. The value of rural exposure
through clinical placements is well documented. Medical schools in South Africa have a
responsibility to provide solutions that address the prevailing human resources challenges.
Despite this commitment, medical students do not necessarily appreciate their role in resolving
South Africa’s human resources challenges. This study aimed to assess the factors that
influenced the choice of clinical learning sites in a self-selection process undertaken by Wits
final year medical students for the compulsory 6-week integrated primary care block rotation.
Methods: Qualitative data related to reasons for choice of service learning site were gathered
from 524 pre-placement questionnaires completed by final year medical students entering the
rotation over a 3-year period (2012–2014). Thematic analysis was performed using the
MAXQDA software.
Results: Eight themes emerged from the study indicating that the majority of participants
were in favour of local urban underserved placement. Contextual factors, such as work
commitments or family responsibilities, being compromised socially and losing academic
standing were the main reasons for seeking urban placement. Good supervision, opportunistic
learning, skills development and moral support were reasons for seeking rural placements.
Previous voluntary exposure to rural practice or being of rural origin was a strong indicator
for uptake of rural placement.
Conclusion: This study has demonstrated the challenges faced by coordinators in balancing
personal and institutional needs with country needs and the contextual factors that must
be considered when implementing medical education programmes that respond to social
challenges.
Description
CITATION: Mapukata, N.O., Dube, R., Couper, I. & Mlambo, M.G. 2017. Factors influencing choice of site for
rural clinical placements by final year medical students in a South African university. African Journal of Primary Health care & Family Medicine, 9(1): a1226, doi:org/10.4102/phcfm.v9i1.1226.
The original publication is available at https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm
The original publication is available at https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm
Keywords
Public health, Community health aides, Rural health services -- South Africa
Citation
Mapukata, N.O., Dube, R., Couper, I. & Mlambo, M.G. 2017. Factors influencing choice of site for rural clinical placements by final year medical students in a South African university. African Journal of Primary Health care & Family Medicine, 9(1): a1226, doi:org/10.4102/phcfm.v9i1.1226.