Assessment of the Rural Health Module
There are three components of student assessment in the module. (Consult the Guidelines for Oral Presentation and Written Assignment for further details on these components)
1. Clinical Assessment: this is a mandatory hurdle of the module. Students who do not obtain a satisfactory grade for their clinical placement will not fulfill the basic requirement for the medical course and will fail the module. This component requires 100% attendance for all learning activities (in class and clinical sites), and maintaining professionalism at all times. Students who do not demonstrate the required professionalism and/or attendance, will be required to submit their reasons, with documentary evidence where appropriate, before a decision is made on allowing them to continue.
2. Oral presentation: Students will do an oral presentation (usually in pairs) at the end of the 3 week program. The oral presentation will contribute 50% of the RHM weighting. The maximum time for the presentation is 30mins (including questions from the class). Students are advised to use Powerpoint for their presentations, so that their work can be archived (with their permission) following the rotation. If students choose to include a case in their presentation (which could be used as practice for long case presentations), this should not occupy more than ten minutes. The remainder of the presentation should expand on some aspect of the case which reflects the themes and objectives of the RHM, in particular the impact of rurality on the patient’s or doctor’s experience and care.
3. Written assignment: Students (either individually or in pairs) will submit a written assignment of not more than 1500 words. The assignment should be comprehensive and succinct and in particular address their experience of how the rural setting influences decision making in individual and community health care. The written assignment will contribute 50% of the RHM weighting.
These assessment components are intrinsically linked to the expected student learning experiences. To this end the assessment tasks have been designed to enhance the learning processes. The clinical assessment enable students to examine the nature of the effect of rurality, community influences on a person’s health, and individual health care experiences. The oral presentation gives students the opportunity to further develop their understanding of rural health via a considered exploration of the key themes and through research and to demonstrate their oral communication skills.