Abstract
BackgroundIn Japan, few community-based approaches have been adopted in health-care professional education, and the appropriate content for such approaches has not been clarified. In establishing community-based education for health-care professionals, clarification of its learning effects is required. A community-based educational program was started in 2009 in the health sciences course at Gunma University, and one of the main elements in this program is conducting classes outside school. The purpose of this study was to investigate using text-analysis methods how the off-campus program affects students.MethodsIn all, 116 self-assessment worksheets submitted by students after participating in the off-campus classes were decomposed into words. The extracted words were carefully selected from the perspective of contained meaning or content. With the selected terms, the relations to each word were analyzed by means of cluster analysis.ResultsCluster analysis was used to select and divide 32 extracted words into four clusters: cluster 1—“actually/direct,” “learn/watch/hear,” “how,” “experience/participation,” “local residents,” “atmosphere in community-based clinical care settings,” “favorable,” “communication/conversation,” and “study”; cluster 2—“work of staff member” and “role”; cluster 3—“interaction/communication,” “understanding,” “feel,” “significant/important/necessity,” and “think”; and cluster 4—“community,” “confusing,” “enjoyable,” “proactive,” “knowledge,” “academic knowledge,” and “class.”ConclusionsThe students who participated in the program achieved different types of learning through the off-campus classes. They also had a positive impression of the community-based experience and interaction with the local residents, which is considered a favorable outcome. Off-campus programs could be a useful educational approach for students in health sciences.
Highlights
IntroductionThe off-campus learning experience and general impressions were described in freely written texts in the self-assessment worksheets
Community project activities2: Announcement or events Students 3: ParticipationThe off-campus learning experience and general impressions were described in freely written texts in the self-assessment worksheets
Various approaches in community-oriented and communitybased medical education have been adopted around the world [2], and it has been reported that a communityoriented medical school curriculum is effective for community-based education [3]
Summary
The off-campus learning experience and general impressions were described in freely written texts in the self-assessment worksheets The data from these worksheets were converted to anonymous electronic data and used for later analysis. In establishing community-based education for health-care professionals, clarification of its learning effects is required. The purpose of this study was to investigate using text-analysis methods how the off-campus program affects students It is becoming increasingly expected of health-care professionals that they promote residents’ health and longevity and their quality of life. In Japan, a curriculum that orients students toward community-based medicine has yet to emerge in medical education; few approaches have been adopted in allied health-care professional education in this country, and the appropriate content has yet to be determined. To establish community-based education for health-care professionals, clarification of the learning effects is requisite
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