Effect of curriculum on awareness and attitude of rural-oriented program in medical students / 中华全科医师杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the effect of curriculum on the awareness and attitude on the rural-oriented medical education among medical students.Methods:The grade 2019 and 2020 medical students of rural-oriented program in Hebei Medical University were enrolled. Two different curricula were adopted in the first year, for students of grade 2020 more courses in general medicine, humanities and social sciences were added, and not for those of grade 2019. A questionnaire survey was conducted at the end of their first academic year. The questionnaire contained the basic information of students, opinions and satisfaction with curriculum design, understanding of policies about rural-oriented medical education, and the sense of career identity; each item in the questionnaire was scored by 5-point Likert scale.Results:A total of 173 questionnaires were distributed and 161 valid questionnaires were recovered, with a recovery rate of 93.1%; there were 55 responders (15 males and 40 females) from grade 2019, and 106 from grade 2020 (52 males and 54 females). The main reasons for choosing rural-oriented program were job security (60.0% (33/55) in 2019 and 58.5% (62/106) in 2020), the main way to know the relevant policies of the program was through the internet (54.5% (30/55) in 2019 and 66.0% (70/106) in 2020); 34.5% (19/55) of grade 2019 students were willing to continue working in rural areas after contracted period of service, while the percentage was 47.2% (50/106) for grade 2020. Students in grade 2020 had a higher satisfaction scores on the content and quality of teaching courses, as well as teaching satisfaction compared to those in grade 2019( t=2.34 and 3.00, P<0.05). The awareness of relevant policies before enrollment and policies related to contract violations among grade 2020 students was higher than that of grade 2019( t=2.70 and 5.08, P<0.05); the scores of all questions about general practice answered by students in grade 2020 were higher than those in grade 2019( t=3.96, 3.37, 3.55, 2.85, 3.84, 5.26 and 5.10,all P<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in the scores of cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and adaptive aspects of career identity between students of two grades( t=0.70, 0.78, 0.74 and 1.37,all P>0.05). Conclusions:The reformed curriculum has positive effect on the satisfaction and awareness of rural-oriented medical education program and relevant policies among medical students in the program; however, it has less effect on the sense of career identity and willingness to continue to work in rural areas after the contracted period of serve.