Building, maintaining and repairing the community-campus bridge—five years' experience of community groups educating medical students

Abstract

If health services are to move towards being the people services that the community wants and expects, then there is need for major changes to take place in the way in which health services are planned, managed and delivered. A key factor in achieving that change is to engender the types of attitudes in our health professional students that will allow them to act in a partnership role with the coinmunity and individuals to determine their needs and listen to their expertise. By building bridges to the community that allows people in the community to have input and responsibility for health professional education we can epitomise and imprint the type of relationships that we say are important, but often do not exempli&. This contribution describes the process by which a medical undergraduate course has obtained input from the community into its student training, and the programmes that have developed as a result of this partnership. The major thrust, however, is an examination of the reasons why such a partnership should be built and the principles that allow genuine partnership, and therefore progress, to have been achieved.

Learning to collaborate: a study of nursing students’ experience of inter‐professional education at one UK university

“…I was aware of my semi-professional status but was also mindful of my previous experience as a staff nurse, and I was angry that the School Nurse did not respect my judgement or experience. (4HV5: Reflective Scenario) Wealthall, Graham, and Turner (1998) agree with the sentiments expressed by this student that transference of learning occurs best when students felt and experienced the stories of other groups rather than regarding only what occurs from their own monocultures as the norm. Wealthall, Graham, and Turner (1998) argue that if students do not have sufficient personal experience or if that experience is inadequate, then the "reality constructs" that a student makes are likely to be inaccurate.…”

“…(4HV5: Reflective Scenario) Wealthall, Graham, and Turner (1998) agree with the sentiments expressed by this student that transference of learning occurs best when students felt and experienced the stories of other groups rather than regarding only what occurs from their own monocultures as the norm. Wealthall, Graham, and Turner (1998) argue that if students do not have sufficient personal experience or if that experience is inadequate, then the "reality constructs" that a student makes are likely to be inaccurate. This is especially important when students are learning to work collaboratively; if they learn in the vacuum of their own profession, then they may subconsciously develop prejudices and stereotypes about other professions such as doctors, social workers and teachers.…”

Medical Students’ Child Health Experience in Primary Schools

“…By building bridges of understanding between the university and community, and involving students from the start of their studies, it may be feasible to reduce the gap so that a genuine understanding of others' perspectives and efforts is achieved (Whealthall, Graham, & Turn, 1998).…”

“…Compared with previous work, this qualitative methodological approach added value in that it facilitated a rich exploration of students’, teachers’ and head teachers’ experience of developing community partnerships and experiences for students. By building bridges of understanding between the university and community, and involving students from the start of their studies, it may be feasible to reduce the gap so that a genuine understanding of others’ perspectives and efforts is achieved (Whealthall, Graham, & Turn, 1998).…”