A new adapted clinical rotations programme has enabled fifth-year medical students at Stellenbosch University (SU) to complete their clinical rotations for 2020.
The programme, called the Integrated Distributed Engagement to Advanced Learning (IDEAL) rotation, was created after Covid-19-imposed regulations affected the traditional clinical rotation programme, said dr Kobus Viljoen, a lecturer from SU’s Faculty of Medicine and Health sciences (FMHS).
Medical students are required to do clinical rotations as part of their training. A clinical rotation requires the students to see patients daily and assist the doctors on call.
“The plan is the first-of-its-kind at the Stellenbosch University FHMS. Students would traditionally go from one rotation to the next. We are doing an integrated rotation, which means all the disciplines are basically combined into one rotation,” said Viljoen, who also led the team that designed the plan.
According to Viljoen, fifth-year students used to complete their clinical rotations at Tygerberg Hospital.
Although the IDEAL plan is limited to fifth-year medical students, it is influencing the direction that the medical programme is taking with the designing of the new medical curriculum, said dr Kobus Viljoen, a lecturer at Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS). PHOTO: Unsplash/Hush Naidoo
The IDEAL plan was designed with the intention of leveraging existing platforms within the FMHS, according to dr Therese Fish, vice-dean of clinical service and social impact at SU.
“The IDEAL [plan] is based on the experiences of other faculty rural rotations, as well as those of other universities like Wits,” said Fish.
According to Fish, the plan’s models help improve the learning opportunities for the fifth-year students and assists with the renewal of undergraduate programmes at the FMHS.
Ideal for students and clinical sites
The clinical sites for the IDEAL plan spans rural and urban areas in the Western Cape and Northern Cape, said Viljoen.
According to Viljoen, the aim of the plan was for medical students to both learn and contribute valuable services, especially in the time of Covid-19 and the consequential staff shortages.
“We wanted the sites to feel that the students that are coming to them [are] not an educational burden,” he said.
Students have generally been very receptive to the IDEAL plan, said Ntsako Mtileni, outgoing Tygerberg Student Council chairperson and fifth-year medical student, who formed part of the IDEAL plan designing team.
Ntsako Mtileni, outgoing chair of the Tygerberg Students Council, says the reception of the IDEAL plan by the students was unexpected, yet welcomed. PHOTO: Supplied/Ntsako Mtileni
According to Mtileni, it was likely that senior medical students would be receptive to the IDEAL plan as the students have been away from the clinical platform for close to five months.
Students have also been assigned mentors, which the students meet at least once a week to reflect on the week’s clinical rotations, Mtileni said.
“I believe that these mentorship opportunities are enhancing the clinical experience and promoting self-care habits. The IDEAL rotation is the turning point that the clinical training platform needed,” said Mtileni.
Fifth-year medical students will be assessed on their IDEAL rotations at the beginning of 2021, said dr Therese Fish, vice-dean of clinical service and social impact at Stellenbosch University. PHOTO: Unsplash/Piron Guillaume
According to an article on SU’s website, the three-month rotation is set to finish on 13 November 2020.