Undergraduate students' experience of obstetrics and gynaecology in district hospitals

Abstract

SummaryBritish medical schools are increasingly using hospitals other than designated teaching hospitals to provide undergraduate clinical experience. This paper reports upon the experiences of 30 clinical students who each spent 2 weeks in one of two ‘peripheral’ district hospitals in East Anglia. Students' reported activities in a typical week are described, as is their role in the operating theatre, their experience of clinical conditions, procedures and problems, and their overall reaction to the experience. Student attitudes were almost universally positive, though some lacunae in teaching and clinical experience became apparent. Given the option of spending further time later in the course at either a peripheral or a teaching hospital, 80 per cent would opt for the former.