Reflecting on exchange students’ learning: Structure, objectives and supervision

Abstract

Background and aim: The increasing opportunities for medical students to participate in international electives may improve students’ professionalism and cultural competence. However, the students’ overall experiences may be unpredictable, unstructured and lack supervision. There is scant evidence with respect to their learning outcomes. These reflections demonstrate that short-term supervised elective can provide students with structured learning experiences to achieve specific learning objectives.

Methods: We carried out daily debriefs and a weekly summary with seven Curtin Medical School students from Perth, Australia during an 18-days supervised elective in the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. The daily debriefs and the weekly summary in different disciplines become the content of the reflections discussed in this article.

Results: The main themes identified in the feedback were as follows: Skills in history taking and physical examination; clinical reasoning; diagnosis and management of diseases rarely seen in Australia; awareness of clinical ethics; merits and demerits of different systems of healthcare; sensitivity to issues in doctor-patient relationships; work ethics; enhancement of cultural competence; and personal development.

Conclusions: These reflections provide insight into how overseas electives may be structured to improve students’ clinical reasoning skills in this hospital. These students achieved their learning outcomes under joint supervision from both institutions. The clinical skills learned from these experiences enhanced the students’ professionalism and cultural competence, giving students the opportunities to appreciate the multitude healthcare model of bio-psycho-social-political-economical-spiritual dimensions.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the following people: All the tutors, registrars and consultants at the individual discipline of the First Affiliated Hospital for supervising and delivering the academic schedules. Curtin University Go Global Project Coordinator, Ms. Jamie Choo for organizing the students’ flight booking and insurance; Curtin Medical School administrative officer, Ms. Kathryn Harrison for contacting the students; Mengyuan Cheng at the Medical Education Department of the First Affiliated Hospital for helping with the students’ daily academic schedules; Mr. Jin Zhang at the International Collaboration Department of the First Affiliated Hospital for taking charge of organizing the students’ welcome, farewell ceremony, and general feedback; Ms. Yiyu Tang at the International Collaboration Department of the First Affiliated Hospital for helping with the students’ daily academic schedules and orientation.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Dan Xu

Dan Xu, MD, PhD, FRACGP, General Medical Practitioner, Clinical Dean of General Practice, Curtin Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.

Mitchell Atkinson

Mitchell Atkinson, 3rd-year medical student, Curtin Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.

Timothy Yap

Timothy Yap, 3rd-year medical student, Curtin Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.

Max Yap

Max Yap, 3rd-year medical student, Curtin Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.

Raphin Hossain

Raphin Hossain, 3rd-year medical students, Curtin Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.

Felicity Chong

Felicity Chong, 3rd-year medical student, Curtin Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.

Shivangi Gupta

Shivangi Gupta, 3rd-year medical student, Curtin Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.

Lachlan Hou

Lachlan Hou, 3rd-year medical student, Curtin Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.

Lucy Shuqing Ding

Lucy Shu-Qin Ding, Bachelor of Science (BSc), Director, Office of International Affairs, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University.

Qing Yang

Qing Yang, Doctor of Medicine (MD), Director, Department of Medical Education, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University.

Ming Kuang

Ming Kuang, Doctor of Medicine (MD, PhD), Vice President, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University.

Haipeng Xiao

Haipeng Xiao, Doctor of Medicine (MD, PhD), President, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University.