A qualitative evaluation of the impact of a medical student school outreach project on both medical students and school pupils
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Brown, Megan
Ahuja, Neha
Sivam, Vanessa
Khanna, Alisha
Parekh, Ravi
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Objective
To explore medical student and school pupil experiences of an outreach school teaching project
Setting
Community engagement is increasingly commonplace within medical school. Secondary schools offer ample opportunities for community engagement, as medical students teach and engage in service learning. There is a lack of research regarding the impact of school community engagement projects and the impact on pupils, as critical stakeholders in the service medical students provide. In this qualitative study, we set out to explore the perspectives of medical students and school pupils involved in a school teaching project.
Participants
10 medical students participated in individual interviews, and 17 school pupils across three schools participated in group interviews. Data were analysed using thematic analysis, and the concept of service learning.
Results
For medical students, the project fostered communication and teaching skills, but a lack of reflection hampered further benefit. For school pupils, experiences varied – learning about careers in medicine could be inspiring, but content pitched at the incorrect level disengaged some pupils. Conflict between session timing and medical students’ exams negatively influenced engagement.
Conclusions
To shift the focus of community engagement projects which promote service-learning towards mutual benefit, designing in partnership with relevant community stakeholders and integrating opportunities for reflection on these experiences are critical.
Strengths and Limitations of this study
• To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first study exploring the impact of a medical student school outreach project from school pupil perspectives.
• This study offers rich qualitative data across stakeholder perspectives.
• The theoretical framework of service learning used, casts new light on the ways in which school outreach projects influence learning.
• The impact is limited by unanticipated changes in project delivery, which reduced participating medical student opportunities for reflection.
To explore medical student and school pupil experiences of an outreach school teaching project
Setting
Community engagement is increasingly commonplace within medical school. Secondary schools offer ample opportunities for community engagement, as medical students teach and engage in service learning. There is a lack of research regarding the impact of school community engagement projects and the impact on pupils, as critical stakeholders in the service medical students provide. In this qualitative study, we set out to explore the perspectives of medical students and school pupils involved in a school teaching project.
Participants
10 medical students participated in individual interviews, and 17 school pupils across three schools participated in group interviews. Data were analysed using thematic analysis, and the concept of service learning.
Results
For medical students, the project fostered communication and teaching skills, but a lack of reflection hampered further benefit. For school pupils, experiences varied – learning about careers in medicine could be inspiring, but content pitched at the incorrect level disengaged some pupils. Conflict between session timing and medical students’ exams negatively influenced engagement.
Conclusions
To shift the focus of community engagement projects which promote service-learning towards mutual benefit, designing in partnership with relevant community stakeholders and integrating opportunities for reflection on these experiences are critical.
Strengths and Limitations of this study
• To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first study exploring the impact of a medical student school outreach project from school pupil perspectives.
• This study offers rich qualitative data across stakeholder perspectives.
• The theoretical framework of service learning used, casts new light on the ways in which school outreach projects influence learning.
• The impact is limited by unanticipated changes in project delivery, which reduced participating medical student opportunities for reflection.
Date Issued
2023-11
Date Acceptance
2023-10-31
Citation
BMJ Open, 2023, 13 (11)
ISSN
2044-6055
Publisher
BMJ Publishing Group
Journal / Book Title
BMJ Open
Volume
13
Issue
11
Copyright Statement
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/11/e070508.info
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
e070508
Date Publish Online
2023-11-21