MEDUNSA UPGRADE - University of Limpopo

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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
Gerda Botha environmental health, which entails students visiting homes, assessing aspects such as waste disposal, water sanitation, air pollution, and food and milk hygiene, and advising patients. Year three is the consultations skills block, which takes place under the supervision of family physicians at the clinic, and year four is more advanced clinic management. Also on the curriculum is HIV/Aids care and counselling, as well as palliative care in a hospice. Relationships become the cornerstone of the learning process – relationships with both the supervisor and the patient or patients that have been allocated to each student. The students stay in the same clinic for four years and the relationships with the supervisors and patients living with chronic conditions continue through out the four years. ‘There’s little in the way of health issues in the community that isn’t covered in our CBSL,’ notes Botha. ‘We want our students to train in the communities, not just learn about them. And at the same time they should provide a service to the community. This can have greater positive repercussions for the health profile of the communities going forward. Essentially, we believe this course can contribute to their becoming world class doctors.’ Harvey Cushing, US scientist of the late 1800s, said it well, ‘A physician is obligated to consider more than a diseased organ, more even than the whole man - he must view the man in his world.’ The CBSL course goes even further than that; it doesn’t just view the man in his world, it allows interaction with him in a way that is likely to improve his wellness. P A G E 1 5
Page 1 and 2: LIMPOPO NUMBER 22 WINTER 2010 LIMPO
Page 3 and 4: CALLING ALL ALUMNI: GET IN THE NEWS
Page 5 and 6: IN THIS ISSUE UNIVERSITY cover pict
Page 7 and 8: efforts in this direction by lookin
Page 9 and 10: Changes in the university executive
Page 11 and 12: associate professor of Microbiology
Page 13 and 14: BOOTS enrolled for a Bachelor’s d
Page 15: Professor Monie Naidoo was to ensur
Page 19 and 20: Medunsa upgrades ORAL HEALTH CENTRE
Page 21 and 22: Medunsa upgrades NEW SKILLS CENTRE
Page 23 and 24: heartbeat’, palpate her stomach,
Page 25 and 26: From top to bottom: Professor Dirk
Page 27 and 28: DVC Academic & Research Research Di
Page 29 and 30: Profile: Geoffrey Letsoalo MEET THE
Page 31 and 32: Profile: Regina Maphanga WHAT KEEPS
Page 33 and 34: Profile: Dr Mhlangu FIRMING UP THE
Page 35: Secure Secure your your future futu

MEDUNSA UPGRADE - University of Limpopo

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