Evaluation of an innovative approach to community-based medical undergraduate education in Nigeria.

Context: Although innovative, community-oriented and PHC-focused medical education programmes have been in operation in some medical schools in Nigeria for over a decade, they are yet to be comprehensively evaluated.

Objective: This study therefore aimed at evaluating some impacts of the programmes on medical education in the country.

Methods: The study was conducted in three innovative medical schools in South-Western Nigeria. Two traditional medical schools were selected as control. Questionnaires were used for the collection of data from random samples of 44 final year medical students in the innovative medical schools (SIMS) and 40 final year medical students in the traditional medical schools (STMS). Forty (40) medical graduates of the innovative medical schools (GIMS) and 33 graduates of the traditional medical schools (GTMS) also participated in the study. In addition, in-depth interviews of key stakeholders of the programmes and focus group discussions of selected members of the communities were conducted.

Findings: Findings revealed that the graduates of the innovative schools were better exposed to PHC education than those in the traditional schools. Their perceptions of the objectives of, and functions during, the PHC education were significantly different. Methods of learning during the programmes appear to be more experiential and inductive. Attitudes of members of rural communities were also favourable to the programmes.

Conclusion: The innovative programmes appear to have impacted positively on medical education in the country. A major deficiency of the programmes is inadequacy of human and material resources for their effective functioning.