ArticleBMC medical education2022
Understanding medical students' transformative experiences of early preclinical international rural placement over a 20-year period.
Article in BMC medical education, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of Community-Based Clinical Clerkship on Medical Students' Generalism-Related Competences: A Mixed-Methods Study.Journal of general and family medicine · 2025Article
- Beyond the classroom: The transformative experience of short rural immersion programs for health professional students: A narrative review.Medical education · 2025Review
- A systematic scoping review of reflective writing in medical education.BMC medical education · 2023Article
- Challenges and Facilitators for Physicians and Medical Schools to Promote Social Accountability in Rural Communities: A Scoping Review and Thematic Analysis.Journal of medical education and curricular developmentReview
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionRural placements are an important component of rural medical education programs seeking to develop rural practice pathways for medical students. These placements are usually domestic, but James Cook University in Australia developed an international rural placement program in the first half of the medical course that was funded through bursaries. This study explores how the international rural placement helped to shape the lives (personal development and learning) of the participants, using Transformational Learning Theory as a framework for identifying and describing the transformational elements, process and impact of the program.
methodsSixty-five students received a bursary for an international rural placement between 2001-2019. All were contacted by email and invited to participate in a short survey and a follow-up interview. Fifteen participants agreed and twelve were able to participate in individual semi-structured interviews which were recorded, transcribed and analysed using inductive thematic analysis.
resultsParticipants reported that the bursary provided a "once in a lifetime opportunity" to "experience eye-opening and culturally rich difference". Nonetheless, some elements of the placement experience presented disorientating dilemmas that triggered deep reflections and shifts in perceptions. The bursary recipients realised that "being open-minded" allowed them "enjoy good company". They were also able to assume "outsider view which allowed reassessment of their own country" and the "isolation experiences gingered desire to right health wrongs". The triggers and mental shifts had significant impact on the bursary recipients and fostered the development of "inspirational new horizons" based on an appreciation of the "value of rural practice" and "role-modelling for life-long learning." These findings are consistent with Transformational Learning Theory.
conclusionParticipants in this study reported meaningful and strongly positive impacts from the experiences gained during an international rural clinical placement early in their course. They described transformative experiences which appear to contribute strongly to personal development. This finding supports maintaining opportunities for international experiences during rurally-oriented medical programs as these may impact longer term career choice.
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