Evaluation of an extracurricular program for students interested in rural and public health

Abstract

PurposeThe problem regarding the geographic imbalance of the physician workforce has been a long-standing problem in South Korea. Additionally, rural medicine and public health have been marginalized across whole undergraduate curriculums. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an extracurricular program targeting medical students interested in rural and public health.MethodsA 2-day extracurricular program was held twice in 2015 and 2016. A total of 53 students were selected among eighty students who voluntarily applied to participate in the program. The effectiveness of the program was evaluated by pre- and post-program surveys.ResultsThe overall satisfaction for the program was 5.35 out of 6. The participants showed a significant improvement in perception of the clerkship experience in a rural and public health care setting as well as the importance of rural medicine and public health in South Korea.ConclusionIn conclusion, this study showed the acceptability of a short-term extracurricular program for medical students interested in rural and public health.

Medical students' rural practice intention: Academic performance matters

“…This initiative has had success in other countries. 3,4,9,10,19,23 Of course, not all graduates from rural track schools go into rural practice, but our finding that only one third of ROD students had rural practice intention, and this proportion was similar in each year of study, suggests that the ROD programmes themselves do not influence work choices. This is different from what has been observed in other countries 3 and in students on mainstream medical degree programmes in China who have some rural exposure.…”

“…The same problems with the rural workforce apply in China as are found in other countries, and, as discussed earlier, there have been various governmental and healthcare initiatives to address these issues, including setting up rural track schools. This initiative has had success in other countries 3,4,9,10,19,23 . Of course, not all graduates from rural track schools go into rural practice, but our finding that only one third of ROD students had rural practice intention, and this proportion was similar in each year of study, suggests that the ROD programmes themselves do not influence work choices.…”

“…Although our study was based firmly grounded in the context of China's medical education, our specific research questions and hypothesis were relevant to an international audience, particularly given the push factors for rural medicine in China are similar to those identified in many other countries. 4,[8][9][10]19 We encourage more case studies from different countries and cultures to test the hypothesis that medical students' (perceived) academic performance influences their rural practice intention.…”

“…Medical career decision making, which would encompass rural practice intention, can be considered an optimisation process: that is, a way to get the best outcome possible from available resources and within existing parameters. [17][18][19] Individuals survey the different jobs available and subsequently select the job that promises to maximise financial and other utility, such as job satisfaction and good working conditions. 20 Applying this to rural practice intention, medical students need to choose between two 'goods', rural versus non-rural practice.…”