Tuning medical education for rural-ready practice: designing and resourcing optimally

Abstract

In an effort to bring doctors back to the bush the Australian government has resourced a number of rural clinical schools (RCS). At the RCS in the University of Western Australia students were allocated in small groups to rural sites for the entire fifth year of a six-year course, sitting the same final examinations as city students. Key factors guiding the successful outcome were the resourcing and implementation of the infrastructure and teaching and learning pedagogy. In designing support, the disconnection of students from their city colleagues was anticipated as an issue, as was the pedagogical indoctrination of the teachers. The curriculum implementation was adapted in this light. The role of the Web in teaching and learning, and their status as ‘student colleagues’ and independent learners were pivotal aspects. As students settled at their site, their confidence grew and their anxiety over urban disconnection dissipated. By benchmarking themselves using Web-based formative assessments and in formative ‘objective structured clinical examinations’ staged for them by the RCS, the students received ongoing feedback on their progress. This model of embedding students in rural centres for an extended period with rural practitioners as teachers was successfully implemented at multiple sites geographically vastly separate.

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Notes on contributors

Moira A.L. Maley

MOIRA A.L. MALEY, BSc MSc PhD Assoc Dip App Sci (Naut), is a Lecturer in Medical Education with responsibility to ensure educationally sound use of the Web in support of teaching and learning. Her original training as a medical research scientist and keen ongoing interest in experiential learning (sail training) has facilitated a broader role for her within the UWA RCS.

Harriet Denz-Penhey

HARRIET DENZ-PENHEY, BTheol PhD, is a Senior Research Fellow at the Rural Clinical School, University of Western Australia. Her research interests are in patient-centred clinical care and the philosophy of primary care. She is currently in charge of evaluation of the Rural Clinical School.

Vanessa Lockyer-Stevens

VANESSA LOCKYER-STEVENS, BN, has a background in healthcare and adult education with a special interest in curriculum design. Vanessa joined the RCS, UWA in 2003 as Lecturer in Curriculum Design with a remit to develop and establish the design for, and coordinate a year-long clinical academic experience for fifth-year students.

J. Campbell Murdoch

J. CAMPBELL MURDOCH, MD PhD, is the only Australian Professor of Rural and Remote Medicine. As Head of the Rural Clinical School at the University of Western Australia, he has special interests in rural medical education. Previous research interests have included patient-centred care of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and Down's syndrome.