MEDUNSA UPGRADE - University of Limpopo

Student enrichment at Medunsa
HANDS-ON COMMUNITY COURSE
IS A WIN-WIN-WIN
t‘THE CLINIC STAFF LOVE THEM; THE PATIENTS LOVE
THEM; AND THEY SEEM TO BE THOROUGHLY
ENJOYING IT TOO.’ GERDA BOTHA, HEAD OF THE
POME (PRACTICE OF MEDICINE) DEPARTMENT AT
THE UNIVERSITY OF LIMPOPO’S FACULTY OF HEALTH
SCIENCES AT MEDUNSA, IS HEARTENED BY THE
OVERALL RESPONSES TO THE NEW COMMUNITY
BASED SERVICE LEARNING (CBSL) COURSE
LAUNCHED FOR FIRST TO FOURTH YEAR MEDICAL
STUDENTS THIS YEAR.
The CBSL course is based primarily in six local
clinics – Madidi, Mmakaunyane, Mercy St Johns,
KT Mothubatsi, and Tlamelong – where supervisor
nurses form the backbone of the programme. These
nurses have been trained and appointed as part-time
lecturers. They collaborate with the patients, community
leaders, other health authorities, and they facilitate
student learning and assessments.
‘Previously, the community work was more
theoretical than practical. There were clinic visits, but
written work was the primary means of evaluating this
block. This has changed dramatically. The students
now spend a compulsory few hours every week at the
clinic and they interact far more intensively with the
patients.’ Botha adds that the whole process has been
explained to the patients who are, on the whole,
extremely keen to be a part of the process of helping
the youngsters ‘become good doctors’. While Botha
says although she anticipated a positive response from
the community; she is thrilled beyond expectations with
just how helpful the nurses and patients are being.
The course is strictly in line with the Faculty of
Health Sciences and Dean, Professor Errol Holland’s
quest ‘to be an institution of social relevance and to
produce health professionals who truly care’.
The CBSL course places students where the patients
are. ‘Hospitalised patients are usually admitted for a
short period. It’s more useful to the patient and the
healthcare process to follow a patient with a chronic
P A G E 1 4
illness to see what happens over a period of time,’
says Botha. In this hands-on approach, the CBSL
course offers a wide range of disease conditions and
students can learn to discover illnesses themselves;
rather than just having them presented in hospital,
as is often the case.
The course also enables students to understand the
dynamics of the community they serve, such as why
patients don’t follow up at clinics to get their repeat
prescriptions – possibly they cannot afford the taxi
fare; whether there are social problems in the
community – alcohol or drug abuse; whether children
are susceptible to diarrhoea – lack of clean drinking
water or incorrect handling of meat products; or why
an asthma patient is not improving despite medication
– possibly there are open fires in the home. Students
will face these and many other community issues and
develop skills to offer realistic solutions to them.
They learn how to work in a multi-disciplinary team,
respecting and appreciating other workers such as
nursing staff, volunteer workers, health promoters, and
lay counsellors. They also learn to involve the
community through the community leaders in
developing and implementing health programmes.
‘The bottom line is that this course gives students
a deeper understanding of being a physician rather
than just collecting enough facts to pass exams.
We believe this adds to job satisfaction, reduces the
likelihood of burnout later on in their careers, and it
creates a win-win situation for both doctors and
patients,’ adds Botha.
In year one of the CBSL course, the basics of
primary health care are covered, which include
learning about how a clinic operates, taking vital signs
from patients, adopting a patient and doing a home
visit, collecting data about the community, presenting
a health promotion talk on a topic identified by the
community, and receiving a witness report completed
by the student’s mentor at the clinic. Year two covers