Sopoaga Faafetai
Department Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
J Prim Health Care. 2011 Dec 1;3(4):311-6.
Pacific peoples make up approximately 7% of the total population in New Zealand, and are over-represented in poor health statistics. There are very few Pacific peoples in the health workforce. Most Pacific patients will be seen by a non-Pacific health professional when seeking medical care. It is important for all health education institutions, therefore, to include Pacific health as part of their curricula.
This article outlines the development and evaluation of a Pacific immersion programme to teach medical students about Pacific health. The programme was developed with the assistance of local Pacific community leaders. Learning objectives for students, protocols and processes were developed. These learning objectives and feedback from medical students, staff and host families, formed the basis for evaluating the programme.
Students found the programme to be very useful. Host families were satisfied with the experience. Staff support ensured the programme became a required part of learning at the Dunedin School of Medicine.
The pilot programme was initially offered as an optional choice for students. In the future, all students at the Dunedin School of Medicine will be expected to undertake the programme. A research project looking at changes in knowledge, skills and attitudes of students after the programme will be of value.
The programme provided a useful way for teaching Pacific health to undergraduate medical students. Other institutions could consider this method for teaching Pacific health in their curricula.
太平洋岛民约占新西兰总人口的7%，且在健康状况不佳的统计数据中占比过高。卫生人力队伍中太平洋岛民极少。大多数太平洋岛民患者在寻求医疗护理时会由非太平洋岛民的卫生专业人员诊治。因此，对所有健康教育机构而言，将太平洋岛民健康纳入其课程内容很重要。
本文概述了一个沉浸式太平洋岛民项目的开发与评估，该项目旨在向医学生传授太平洋岛民健康知识。该项目是在当地太平洋岛民社区领袖的协助下开发的。制定了学生的学习目标、方案和流程。这些学习目标以及医学生、教职员工和寄宿家庭的反馈，构成了评估该项目的基础。
学生们认为该项目非常有用。寄宿家庭对这段经历感到满意。教职员工的支持确保该项目成为达尼丁医学院学习的必修内容。
试点项目最初是作为学生的可选项目提供的。未来，达尼丁医学院的所有学生都将被要求参加该项目。开展一个研究项目，考察项目结束后学生在知识、技能和态度方面的变化，将会很有价值。
该项目为向本科医学生传授太平洋岛民健康知识提供了一种有用的方式。其他机构在其课程中教授太平洋岛民健康知识时可考虑这种方法。
