- Title
- Teaching medical students about children with disabilities in a rural setting in a school
- Creator
- Jones, Peter; Donald, Mal
- Relation
- BMC Medical Education Vol. 7, Issue 12
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-7-12
- Publisher
- BioMed Central
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2007
- Description
- Background: To describe and implement a community paediatric placement in a school setting that teaches undergraduate medical students about intellectual disability that provides benefit to the community and is acceptable to both students and teachers. Methods: Twenty six 4th year undergraduate medical students of the University of Newcastle completed their Paediatric studies based in Tamworth in 2004 & 2005 including an 8 week placement at Bullimbal School for Specific Purposes. The placement involved the students being actively involved in assisting with the delivery of a variety of activities aimed at improving the motor skills of a group of disabled children. De-identified data were obtained from completed evaluation surveys from 75% (21 of 26) of the medical students and from 100% (5 of 5) of the teachers. Results: All students and teachers found the placement was acceptable and enjoyed the placement and felt that it gave the medical students a greater understanding of children with disabilities. 80% (4 of 5) of the teachers involved in the program did not feel that its implementation added to their workload and all were enthusiastic to continue with the program. Conclusion: Medical students can be effectively taught and have a valuable clinical experience in a school setting to learn about children with a disability. This educational innovation has provided a mutual benefit for both the medical students and the school children who participated in the program without impacting on the workloads of teachers.
- Subject
- medical students; children with disabilities; community paediatric placements; intellectual disability; clinical experience; teachers
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/926759
- Identifier
- uon:9934
- Identifier
- ISSN:1472-6920
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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