European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

EXPERIENCE OF UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL STUDENTS IN COMMUNITY FIELD TRAINING IN QASSIM, SAUDI ARABIA

Dandash K., Sharaf F.*, Mohammed Al Alfi, K. Chandra Sekhar, Sultan Al Nohair and Barimah E.

ABSTRACT

Background: A field training community based course was established to achieve the college‟s mission of imparting community oriented education. The main training locations were government primary health care (PHC) centers and governmental schools of all educational stages that distributed all over Qassim province geographical regions in the middle of Saudi-Arabia. Objectives: 1. To study and assess the satisfaction of the students by their performance in the course learning objectives and by the training environment determinants. Methodology: A structured questionnaire covered the study objectives used to collect data from 89 students. Students were selected through a systematic random sample from training groups by the end of the study year from March 2009 to May 2009. The students were classified into poor and good groups according to the performance satisfaction indicator „PSI”. The dependent variable was the performance satisfaction and the independent variables include training environment variables. Informed consent was taken and maintained confidentiality of the information. Data entered in the statistical package for social science (SPSS) software version 15 used for data analysis. Results: Most students rated unsatisfied by their performance in learning objectives health education (66.3%) and community service (58.5%). More than half of the students (52.8 %, 47/89) had poor “PSI” score, this group showed un-satisfaction by training schedule (64.0%), students‟ assessment (60.7 %) and patients‟ cooperation (55.1%) with significant difference from good group. Multivariate regression revealed that the un-satisfaction by the students‟ assessment was the strongest and most significant determinant of poor „PSI” (Odds 12.8). Conclusions: There was students‟ poor “PSI” associated with un-satisfaction by individual variables of the training environment. Un-satisfaction by the students‟ assessment was the strongest and most significant determinant of poor “PSI”. The findings suggested reevaluation of the course with specific attention to the determinants of students‟poor “PSI”. Similar Research studies with large sample is required to support the findings of this study.

Keywords: Community based education–performance satisfaction- students? assessment, Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia.