Lessons learned from adapting a remote area health placement from physical to virtual: a COVID-19-driven innovation.

OBJECTIVES:  To investigate the acceptability and the effectiveness of a virtual adaptation of a well-established, mandatory, community-based pre-clinical remote area health placement in which medical students learn about the social and environmental determinants of health in remote Australia; and make recommendations to guide the delivery of future learning experiences. METHODS: A mixed-methods convergent design was used. All 99 students, 36 placement hosts and 10 staff were invited to complete an online survey and 27(27%), 12(33%) and 10(100%), respectively, contributed data.  Qualitative data were collected via semi-structured interviews from four students, four hosts and six staff. Survey data were analysed using descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage) and open-ended responses summarised to provide supporting contextual evidence. Interview transcripts were analysed and coded independently, then corroborated to identify and summarise common themes using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Survey and interview data indicated that the virtual placement was acceptable to students and hosts and enabled students to achieve intended learning objectives.   Virtual activities enabled students and hosts to develop authentic, genuine interpersonal relationships, which in turn were facilitated when hosts and students had practiced videoconferencing beforehand with good high-speed internet connections via mobile devices. Pastoral care and access to IT support were essential. CONCLUSIONS: Virtual placements can be used in combination with and are an option for students and hosts who cannot attend/courses that cannot fund physical placements. Careful design and further research is required to ensure that virtual placements enable "head, heart and hands" learning and do not create/reinforce inequities.

"[It's] more than just medicine": The value and sustainability of mandatory, non-clinical, short-term rural placements in a Western Australian medical school.

Introduction: In 2005, the University of Notre Dame School of Medicine (Western Australia) established a mandatory, non-clinical rural and remote (hereafter termed rural) health placement program delivered in 2 weeks over 2 years, largely resourced by voluntary human capital. Our study investigated whether the program: (1) encouraged medical graduates to seek rural employment; (2) enhanced their ability to meet rural people's health needs; and (3) was sustainable.Methods: A qualitative descriptive study collected data using semi-structured, in-depth interviews with graduates and placement hosts. Data were transcribed, coded and analysed using Framework Analysis to identify key themes.Results: Twenty-eight medical graduates and 15 community hosts participated. The program validated pre-existing interest in, or positively influenced graduates' attitudes towards, rural practice, and enabled empathy and responsiveness when caring for rural patients in urban, as well as rural, health services. Placement hosts unanimously supported the program and contributed social capital, to ensure its sustainability.Discussion: The program influenced a broad spectrum of students over 15 years and reflects a socially-accountable approach to medical education.Conclusions: This study demonstrates the sustainability and value of mandatory short-term community-based placements in improving medical graduates' responsiveness to the health needs of rural Australians.