Community Medicine Clerkship Implementation in a COVID-19 Pandemic Era: The Students' Perceptions

ABSTRACT

Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic has changed the life condition in various sectors. Numerous students in our faculty who should graduate in 2020 must be delayed. This clinical clerkship performed offline in the pandemic era shall be perceived as a crash program to pass the students. This study aimed to evaluate the implementation of a community medicine clerkship (CMC) amidst the pandemic by referring to students' perceptions. Methods: This research was a mixed methods study involving 40 students from Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah, Indonesia. Students were placed in groups in the ten health centers in Tangerang Regency from August to September 2020. The open-ended question via online form was distributed at the beginning of the activity and the fourth week of the clerkship. Results: The study revealed that students' concerns increased from week one to week four, but the difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). The participants identified as the causative factors were insufficient availability of personal protective equipment (PPE), unsynchronized coordination between faculties, preceptors and practice fields, many assignments, and frequent changes in schedule and activities. Conclusion: The implementation of CMC was affected by four factors, namely the faculty, the preceptors, the practical field, and the student itself. Asynchrony within the entire factor results in and contributes to students' concern for practice in the field. © 2022 UPM Press. All rights reserved.