IJCRR - 4(24), December, 2012
Pages: 64-67
Print Article
Download XML Download PDF
A STUDY OF STUDENTS PERCEPTION OF A COMMUNITY BASED CAMP APPROACH METHOD IN PREVENTIVE AND SOCIAL MEDICINE SUBJECT
Author: Vardhan V.V., Raghavia M., Rajini S.
Category: Healthcare
Abstract:Objective: To study students perception towards the community based camp approach method in the subject of Preventive and Social Medicine. Methods: The study was carried out in Aaru Padai Veedu Medical College Pondicherry.53 medical students from Second year MBBS course were surveyed using a five point Likert scale.Data was analysed using the software package SPSS 12.0 and Epi info. Results and Conclusions: Overall, the students had positive attitude and response towards this learning method.Community based camp approach is an active learning method which gives a better understanding of the subject and improves their communication skills.
Keywords: perception, community based, learning, Preventive and Social medicine
Full Text:
INTRODUCTION
The way Medicine is taught and learnt has undergone tremendous changes over the past few decades. Pedagogy or textbook based teaching or teacher-centred learning is gradually being replaced by student-centred learning. The active learning methods used can be helpful in understanding the subject better and be more interesting for the student. Community based camp approach is an effective method of active learning as it involves integration of social sciences with medical domain, task oriented assignments, active community involvement.1 Garg et al2 and Narayanan3 have shown the positive results with community based teachings in Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Social Sciences. Research on effects of various community based teaching methods are many but, research on students perception about the community based camp approach are very few.1 The objective of the present study was to learn about the students perception towards the community based camp approach method used in Community Medicine subject at the Vinayaka Missions, Aaru Padai Veedu Medical College and Hospital (AVMCH), Pondicherry.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Aaru Padai Veedu Medical College and Hospital (AVMCH), Vinayaka Missions University (VMU) Pondicherry, India has undergraduate student strength of 100 students per year. Medical students begin their clinical posting in Community medicine during their third Semester. Students are divided into batches of 30 students each and the duration of their practical clinical posting in Community Medicine subject is two months.The present study was conducted in Community Medicine Departmentl.60 students from two batches posted from August 2011 to November 2011 over a period of 4 months were included in the present study. The study was approved by Ethical review board of the Institute and verbal informed consent was obtained from the participants at the beginning of the study. They were given a project on various public health related topics like personal hygiene, nutrition, immunisation, family planning and Communicable & Non communicable diseases .30 students were further divided into 5 groups of 6 students each. Each group of six students were guided by a faculty member, who acted as a facilitator for them. First week of the project included briefing sessions by the faculty on few theory topics, survey methodology, mapping in survey and preparing survey questionnaire .Second week of the project was given for data collection and preparing their own health education material i.e the posters on the topic alloted .Third week students visited Anganwadi center,Subcenter and Primary health Center to be familiar with the health care delivery system in India and also conducted health talks on the topics allotted with the help of IEC material prepared by them.In the fourth week, data compilation,analysis and presentation was done in the department in the presence of all faculty members.On the last day of the project, this study self-administered questionnaire based on 5 point likert scale4 and consisting of 15 items each, was distributed to all the 60 students.They were asked to respond to each item based on their experience during the project. They were given 15 minutes time to fill the questionnaire. Out of the 60 students participating in the survey questionnaire,only 53 were included for final analysis. Statistical Analysis:Data was analysed using software package SPSS 12.0 and consensus score was calculated using the Epi info package
RESULTS
The students’ response to the questionnaire is indicated in Table.1.The mean age of the participants was 19.08+/-0.80 Std deviation .About 33(62.3%) were females.Students were positive about all aspects of the project. The consensus ranged from a minimum of 25.3% to a maximum of 91 % for the 15 items questionnaire. The maximum consensus 91.0% was for ‘Participation in field surveys improved our understanding for survey technique’ followed by 89.4% for ‘Field visits to Families helped us to learn about their Socioeconomic status and environ mental factors related to the case’ for they had a direct interaction with the families in the community and also a better understanding of their living conditions.Also 83.4% consensus for it helped develop good communication skills and 81.2% consensus for Exposure visits to PHC ,Subcentre and Anganwadi were useful in understanding the health care delivery system in India There was a poor consensus 63.3% on’ Theory class on National health programs and Health care concepts contributed to our understanding’ and 68.9% on ‘Teaching methods used in the survey supported our learning’.This showed that theoretical knowledge imparted was less appreciated by the students.Similar study conducted by Dongre et.al5 revealed positive perception of the students with reference to the teaching method used.
CONCLUSION
Overall the students had positive responses with reference to the community based camp approach especially exposure visits,interaction with the families and developing good communication skills.Thus,the community based camp approach can be effective tool for active learning in public health and this model of learning can be replicated in all Medical Colleges.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Authors are thankful to the Second year Medical students for their active participation.Authors are also thankful to the Social workers from Department of Community Medicine for their support and cooperation throughout the study.
Authors acknowledge the immense help received from the scholars whose articles are cited and included in references of this manuscript.The authors are also grateful to authors /editors/publishers of all those articles,journals and books from where the literature for this article has been reviewed and discussed.
References:
1. Dongre AR, Deshmukh PR, Garg BS. Formative exploration of students’ perception about Community Medicine teaching at Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sewagram, India. Online J Health Allied Scs.2008;7(3):2
2. Garg BS, Nayar S. Doctors for the rural poor. World Health Forum 1996;17:268-270.
3. Narayanan RP. Medical students leading social revolutions. The Clinical Teacher [online] March 2012[cited 2012 Sept 01];3(1). Available from URL: http://www.theclinicalteacher.com
4. 5-point vs. 6-point Likert Scales. [Internet] [cited 2012 March 08]; Available from: www.infosurv.com/images/Likert_Scale_Deb ate.pdf
5. Dongre AR, Deshmukh PR, Gupta SS, Garg BS. An Evaluation of ROME Camp: Forgotten Innovation in Medical Education. Education for Health [online] April 2010 [cited 2012 Aug 12];1:363. Available from URL: http://www.educationforhealth.net
|