Journal:
Middle East Journal of Nursing
Author:
Abdus Salam and Rabeya Yousuf
Publication Date:
Dec 2009
Volume Number:
3
Issue:
5
Page Numbers:
22-27
Description:
Residential Field Site Training (RFST) is an approach to community-based education (CBE) in Bangladesh undergraduate medical education where, 4th year medical students had to reside for two weeks in a Thana Health Complex (THC) –the basic units of primary health care service centers. Exposure to the real life situations of rural people through RFST, students had to work and behave in a certain ways which helped them to develop their generic skills.
A similar study conducted at the Universiti Sains Malaysia, in Kelantan Malaysia on its Community and Family Case Study (CFCS) as an approach to CBE where 4th year medical students were placed at rural families for four weeks at two intervals revealed similar findings of RFST.
There is no universal solution on how to approach CBE. It is the situation, program, strategies and resources of a particular country, which dictate how the objectives are incorporated.
CBE programs provide an opportunity to students to aware of the socio-cultural factors in the causation and management of illness.
However, for an effective CBE program allocation of resources in terms of man, money, materials and their proper utilization are important. It also requires a close collaboration between health and educational administrations.