Successes and Limitations of Community- Based Education Service at Moi University School of Medicine, Eldoret, Kenya

Abstract

Background: Community-based education has been introduced in many medical schools around the globe, but evaluation of instructional quality has remained a critical issue. Community-based education is an approach that aims to prepare students for future professional work at the community level. Instructional quality should be measured based on a program’s outcomes.. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the successes and limitation of COBES. Methods: 274 students, 65 lecturers and 9 administrators were recruited into the study. Self-administered questionnaires with both qualitative and quantitative were used in data collection. Questionnaire utilized a five point Likert scale (1-Totaly disagree, 2-Disagree, 3- Not Sure 4-Agree and 5-Totally Agree).. Cronbach’s alpha, median and inter-quartile range (IQR) was calculated in SPSS 22.P-value less than or equal to 0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review and Ethics Committee (IREC) of Moi University and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital. Results: The response rate among students was 250 (91%), 65 (48%) among lecturers and 9 (100%) among administrators. 77% of students accepted that the college is short of vehicles for COBES. Majority of the students felt that COBES provides an opportunity to meet real life problems of the community and is challenged to provide solutions to the existing health problems. Participant 098 stated that “COBES Provides different approach to solving problems and alternative and realistic approach in seeking answers to actual health problems”. Conclusions: Community based education motivates students to practice community health care. In addition, their motivation is increased by the health education activity. Participating in this activity probably produces a positive effect and improves the instructional quality of the program based on its outcomes. Policy Implications: Community based education during medical school has a positive effect on students. However, the adoption has been met with some concern, primarily because of the substantial manpower and means of transport. COBES becomes a major concern when there are limited resources available.