The Effectiveness Of A Station-Based Education Program In Rural Honduras

Background: Over the past decade, medical students and residents have been increasingly involved in global health programs. The Global Health and Health Disparities Pathway (GH2DP) at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) operates free clinics in La Hicaca, Honduras. GH2DP has been sending teams of medical students, residents and pharmacy students to the area to provide healthcare. GH2DP has a tripartite mission: to improve the health of impoverished people, the education of health science trainees and research. In 2010 GH2DP clinics moved to a “Station-Based” clinical care model. Learners who rotate through each clinical station are expected to learn core material specific to that station; the effectiveness of this approach has not been formally studied previously. Methods & Materials: Medical students and residents participated in a health outreach trip to Yoro, Honduras, in June 2015. All learners took a pretest with questions pertaining to dermatology, physical exam, chronic diseases, GI, infectious diseases and demographics. They rotated through the following clinical stations: 1) dermatology/physical exam 2) screening for diabetes/hypertension 3) gastrointestinal issues. Once a learner had completed rotating through all of the stations they took a post-test survey. These data were evaluated for exam performance by learner type for core knowledge specific to the stations (“Derm/PE/chronic diseases/GI”) and knowledge that was emphasized on the trip but not formally taught (“ID/demographics”). Results: Table 1, Table 2Table 1Medical StudentsCategoryPretestPosttest% changeP-valueDerm/PE/chronic diseases/GI(21 Qs)58/105(55.2%)90/105(85.7%)30.5 < 0.0001ID/demographics (9Qs)25/45(55.6%)38/45(84.4%)28.80.0028 Open table in a new tab Table 2Medical ResidentsCategoryPretestPosttest% changeP-valueDerm/PE/chronic diseases/GI(21 Qs)58/84(69.0%)80/84(95.2%)26.2 < 0.0001ID/demographics (9Qs)15/36(41.7%)26/36(72.2%)30.50.0088 Open table in a new tab Conclusion: The effectiveness of educational activities associated with a Station Based care delivery model on short-term health outreach trips has never been formally assessed. This may serve as a useful tool in enhancing the educational value of outreach trips for medical students and residents.