Abstract
Background: Globally, evidence has shown that rural medical training promotes recruitment and retention of medical personnel translating into an increasing demand for undergraduate medical placements in rural communities.
Aim: The aim of this study was to describe rural posting experience among final year dental students of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken among 4 sets of 142 final year dental students of the University of Ibadan who had their rural posting at Igboora, Southwest Nigeria using a forty-seven-item questionnaire. Survey sections included demographics, general experience, skill development, supervision and comparison between urban and rural dental postings. Frequencies of relevant variables were generated and chisquare test was used to compare categorical variables at p < 0.05. Results The mean (SD) age of the students was 23.9 (2.4) years, there were more males 51.4% (73/142) than females 48.6%(69/142). The majority 73.9%(105/142) agreed that their educational experience met their expectations of what a rural dental program was. The majority 90.8% (129/142) and 71.1% (101/142) disagreed that there was adequate access to information technology and library facilities respectively. All the students agreed that their research skills were developed and improved. The majority 83.8% (119/142) disagreed that the accommodation provided in the rural posting was better than that provided in the urban posting. All the students agreed that the rural posting provided them the opportunity to observe the various determinants of health. The majority 76.1% (108/142) reported that they will like to go for rural posting again. There was no significant difference between gender and experience of participants about rural and urban posting (p > 0.05).
Conclusions: There were both negative and positive feedbacks about rural dental postings from the final year dental students that should be considered to strengthen the programme.
Keywords: Rural posting, dental students, underprivileged areas
Résumé
Contexte: À l’échelle mondiale, des preuves montrent que la formation médicale en milieu rural favorise le recrutement et la rétention du personnel médical, ce qui se traduit par une demande croissante de stages pour les étudiants de premier cycle enmédecine dans les communautés rurales.
Objectif: Le but de cette étude était de décrire l’expérience d’affectation en milieu rural parmi les étudiants en dernière annéede médecine dentaire de l’Université d’Ibadan, au Nigeria.
Méthodes: Une étude transversale a été menée auprès de 4 séries de 142 étudiants en dernière annéedemédecine dentaire de l’Université d’Ibadan qui avaient leur poste rural à Igboora, dans le sud-ouest du Nigeria, à l’aide d’un questionnaire de quarante-sept items. Les sections de l’enquête comprenaient les données démographiques, l’expérience générale, le perfectionnement des compétences, la supervision et la comparaison entre les affectations dentaires urbaines et rurales. Les fréquences des variables pertinentes ont été générées et le test du chi-carré a été utilisé pour comparer les variables catégorielles à p <0,05.
Résultats: L’âge moyen (ET) des étudiants était de 23,9 (2,4) ans, il y avait plus d’hommes 51,4% (73/142) que les femmes 48,6% (69/142). La majorité 73,9% (105/142) ont convenu que leur expérience en éducation satisfaisait à leurs attentes quant à ce qu’était un programme dentaire en milieu rural. La majorité 90,8% (129/142) et 71,1% (101/142) étaientrespectivement en désaccord sur l’accès adéquat aux technologies de l’information et aux bibliothèques. Tous les étudiants ont convenu que leurs compétences en recherche ont été développées et améliorées. La majorité des répondants, soit 83,8% (119/142), était en désaccord sur le fait que le logement offert dans le secteur rural était meilleur que celui offert dans l’affectation urbaine. Tous les étudiants ont convenu que l’affectation en milieu rural leur a permis d’observer les différents déterminants de la santé. La majorité, 76,1% (108/142) ont indiqué qu’ils aimeraient encoreêtre affectés à la campagne. Il n’y avait pas de différence significative entre le sexe et l’expérience des participants sur l’affectation en milieu rural et urbain (p> 0,05).
Conclusions: Il y avait des feedbacks négatifs et positifs sur les affectations dentaires en milieu ruraldes étudiants en dernière annéede la médecine dentaire qui devraient être considérés pour renforcer le programme.
Mots-clés: Affectation en milieu rural, étudiants en médecine dentaire, zones défavorisées
Correspondence: Dr. O. Ibiyemi, Department of Periodontology and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. E-mail: shola_ibiyemi@yahoo.com
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