Assessment of the field course in King Faisal University department of family and community medicine

Abstract EN

Introduction : The Field Exercise in Family and Community Medicine in King Faisal University is a 2 unit course taken in duration of two weeks.

It aims to provide an opportunity to Medical Students to apply their knowledge and skills as well as develop professional attitudes for the effective delivery of primary health care, and to understand the fundamental concepts of applied medical research as related to the health needs in Saudi Arabia.

The present study is an assessment of the course which has been offered for 10 years in the University.

Methodology : This is a descriptive cross sectional research which made use of the evaluations done by all students at the end of the field course in order to measure its efficacy and rate it by their gains in skills and knowledge of the Family and Community Medicine and Physician using a specially-made questionnaire.

The assessment was done on March 2006.

Results and Discussions : The students rated the overall totality of the attainment of skills of the components of the field course a mean rating of 2.71 + .5273 which can be interpreted as very good.

The skill regarding health education was rated the highest (3.10) and doing video was rated the lowest (2.34).

The students rated the objectives as important as shown in the overall mean rating of 3.0651 + .66237.

They rated the field course objective “to conduct health education campaign” as having the highest rating of 3.21, and to describe the organizational and operational aspects of health care delivery system (2.90).

“ The overall mean rating of the students regarding their knowledge of the importance and functions of Family Medicine before they took the field course was 3.6036 + .82674.

Their knowledge about the Family Medicine’s functions and importance was significantly improved after taking the field course at p = .011.

On their knowledge of the Family Physician’s role and functions in health care, the medical students were knowledgeable both before (mean rating = 4.0379 + .97849) and after (mean rating = 4.1931 + .90235) taking the field course.

They showed improvement after the course.

But the improvement was not significant (p = 0.551).

The non-quantitative data from the comments of graduates in the ten-year duration affirmed the results of the quantitative data.

They find the objectives of and methods used in the field course very relevant and functional to their practice in Family and Community Medicine.

Conclusion : The objectives of the field course are relevant, utilizable, and fit to train future family and community doctors the components of the practice of Family and Community Medicine.

The methods and strategies of the field course were sound and appropriate for the objectives set.

Students indicated that they learned Family and Community Medicine component skills.

Students significantly improved their knowledge of the functions and roles of Family and Community Medicine after taking the course.

Students improved their knowledge of the functions and roles of Family and Community Physicians after taking the course, but the change was insignificant.