[Educational effect of field visit in the course of preventive medicine and community health-case report of the field visits to Chikuho districts (1981-89)].

The experiences over 9 years (1981-89) of field visits to the Chikuho districts as part of the preventive medicine and community health course were studied using the results of student evaluations of the educational value of such field visits conducted once or twice a year. The Chikuho district is one of the high priority regions in national public health policy since the decline of the coal mining around 1960. The field visits (an all day visit by bus) were implemented with the aim of educating doctors interested in public health by early exposure to the related establishments, such as municipal hospital, prefectural public health center, memorial museum of coal mining and regional center for vertebrate injuries, all located in this district. The students are assigned to integrate their one-day experience in evaluative report. According to the students' evaluation, just over half of the respondants supported the educational effect of this exposure positively. However, due to university policy to reduce teaching hours, this rather unique field visit had to be terminated in 1990. The advantages and disadvantages of this form of field visits were analysed for comparison with small group field trips. From these analyses the importance of developing further those programs for educating "public health minded" doctors in preparation for service in the future is clear.