Medical Students Enjoy Rural Experience

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Final-year medical students at UKZN’s College of Health Sciences now have a six-week attachment in one of ten rural district Hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal as part of the new MBChB curriculum (MBChB Curriculum 2010). During this period they are fully immersed in the work of the hospital and contribute to the care of patients and communities as part of the local health care team.

The programme, coordinated by UKZN’s Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine and the School of Nursing and Pubic Health, forms part of a larger initiative by the College of Health Sciences in partnership with the provincial Health Department to create a decentralised education platform for health professionals. The Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) based at UKZN, provides support for the programme.

During the feedback session following the rural experience, Programme Head, Dr Mosa Moshabela, reminded the students of the reasons for the programme which include the need for them to experience rural health care in preparation for their internship and community service as well as the country’s transition to the National Health Insurance and Universal Health Coverage Reforms.

‘The programme addresses that need and gives final year medical students the opportunity to work in rural district hospitals, closer to the many local and indigent communities in the province,’ said Moshabela. ‘With the current reengineering of Primary Health Care (PHC), medical institutions have to decentralise training so that our graduates can adequately support PHC and address the chronic shortages of doctors at rural level.’

Many of the students reported that during the programme they progressed from merely identifying symptoms to actually understanding the patient holistically. They said the experience had made them more confident in managing their own patients. They interacted well with hospital supervisors and were impressed by the service to communities offered by the hospitals they worked at.

‘Besides the cobra that visited our quarters, we had a great experience at Emmaus Hospital where doctors were chilled and helpful. We had to take initiative and show our enthusiasm to learn. The nursing sisters were also  great, helpful and very knowledgeable,’ said student Mr Ahmad Peer.

‘I didn’t want to go home,’ said Ms Samukelisiwe Madlabane who worked at Murchison Hospital. ‘The experience was amazing. For six weeks we rotated and saw everything from snake and dog bite victims to delivering babies in theatre.’ According to Madlabane, the hospital services about 200 000 people, including patients from the Eastern Cape. ‘Night duty calls were amazing, Nurses taught us a lot,’ she added.

‘We met the most disciplined doctors,’ said Mr Siyanda Kubheka, who was based at Bethesda Hospital. ‘Although the hospital is in the middle of nowhere, we had such a great experience. Doctors were more than willing to teach and staff generally were very helpful.’

The Manguzi Hospital group said they had good experiences in terms of learning and exposure.  ‘Our supervisor took an interest in us. He was always available to help. He took time to teach us in emergency medicine. All we had to do was to show interest and take initiative.’

Madlabane said, ‘We really had such a humbling experience. People showed appreciation for the services we rendered. We  were really in touch with the human factor, it helped me realise that being a doctor is not about glitz and glam, but about serving the community.