Figure 1
Distribution of students according to sex, age and location of placement peripheral hospital.
Figure 2
Three-year trend on satisfaction and attitude towards peripheral hospital placement.
sCns = Strength of consensus measure.
Table 1
Strength of consensus measure on aspects related to clinical practice competencies/skills acquired and satisfaction with preceptor/supervisor at the peripheral hospital.
| Statement | 2013/2014 | 2014/2015 | 2015/2016 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | Mean (SDev) | sCns (%) | n | Mean (SDev) | sCns (%) | n | Mean (SDev) | sCns (%) | |
| Clinical practice competencies/skills acquired at the peripheral hospital | |||||||||
| I enjoyed practicing in the peripheral hospital | 110 | 4.2 (0.8) | 83.5 | 107 | 4.2 (0.7) | 83.6 | 105 | 4.2 (0.7) | 84.9 |
| I found it easy to practice clinical skills in the peripheral hospitals | 110 | 3.8 (0.9) | 74.4 | 107 | 4.0 (0.8) | 80.0 | 105 | 4.0 (0.9) | 79.2 |
| It was worthwhile teaching clinical practice in the peripheral hospital | 110 | 4.2 (0.8) | 83.6 | 107 | 4.1 (0.7) | 82.8 | 105 | 4.3 (0.7) | 85.4 |
| I learnt a lot on clinical clerkship skills in the peripheral hospital | 110 | 4.2 (0.8) | 83.6 | 107 | 4.3 (0.6) | 86.3 | 105 | 4.4 (0.6) | 88.4 |
| Mean sCns | 81.3 | 83.2 | 84.5 | ||||||
| Satisfaction with preceptor/supervisor at the peripheral hospital | |||||||||
| There was adequate interaction with preceptors/supervisors | 109 | 4.1 (0.7) | 80.9 | 107 | 4.2 (0.7) | 84.1 | 104 | 4.0 (0.7) | 80.5 |
| The log books were reviewed regularly by our preceptors/supervisors | 110 | 2.7 (1.2) | 47.0 | 106 | 2.7 (1.1) | 48.3 | 104 | 2.5 (1.2) | 44.0 |
| I received timely, constructive feedback on performance from my preceptors/supervisors | 110 | 3.9 (0.9) | 76.5 | 107 | 4.0 (0.8) | 78.9 | 105 | 3.9 (0.8) | 77.9 |
| Mean sCns | 68.1 | 70.4 | 67.5 | ||||||
Table 2
Challenges/suggestion for improvement after peripheral hospital rotation.
| Academic Year | Challenges/Suggestions | Action taken to resolve |
|---|---|---|
| 2013/2014 | 1. Inability to apply knowledge gained during laboratory training and carry out point of care testing | Provision of RDT’s toolkit to one urban and one rural hospitals as pilot with wet laboratory personnel in each hospital for one week to assist the students during the laboratory sessions |
| 2. Availability of Internet services | Provision of MiFi to all hospitals | |
| 3. Select hospitals with adequate number of clients | Difficult to implement due to fewer nearby hospitals that meet the selection criteria | |
| 4. Initial planning and communication with peripheral hospitals | Initial arrangements on arrival of students for rotation were made by paying visits to respective hospitals | |
| 2014/2015 | 1. Provision of RDT’s toolkit to all hospitals | All teams in different hospitals were provided with RDT’s toolkit with wet laboratory personnel in each hospital for one week to assist the students during the laboratory sessions |
| 2. College to facilitate payment of internet bundle | MiFi were distributed to all teams with internet bundle | |
| 3. Select hospitals with adequate number of clients | Difficult to implement due to fewer nearby hospitals that meet the selection criteria | |
| 4. College supervisors should make regular assessment on the conduct of the hospital | Resident doctors from each of the major departments (surgery, paediatrics, internal medicine and obstetrics and, aecology) were rotating in each of the peripheral hospitals and for distant hospitals (Same, Gonja, Mt. Meru and St. Elizabeth), residing at the site. |
Figure 3
Frequency of use and mean consensus on usefulness of MiFi.
sCns = Strength of consensus measure.