文摘
Aim The present research aimed to investigate: How well prepared the student thought they were for their first visit to a health centre What had they done to enhance their preparedness How confident they felt they were to ask the required questions The student’s opinion about the extent to which two courses taken prior to the community visit had prepared them for the visits Subject and methods A questionnaire consisting of 11 items was completed by 131 second-year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) students from the Faculty of Medical Sciences. The data were treated with chi-square (χ 2). Results The majority of the students (84.7?%) responded that they had prepared for the visit. Most of those who had not prepared were those who entered with high school qualifications. The differences were not statistically significant (χ 2--.739; p-gt;-05). The differences for what the students did to prepare themselves were not significant by gender, except for the category “discussed with peers-(χ 2--.165; p-lt;-01). The most important thing the students (26.5?%) believed they would learn from the early clinical experience was ‘how to communicate effectively with the patients- Conclusion The majority of the students had prepared themselves for the experience and hoped, most of all to learn how to interact with patients and communicate effectively with them.