Medical Students as Health and Environmental Promoters

by Salma Galal, M.D.

Introduction

Every person has capacities, abilities and a message in his life. It is the use of these capacities in each individual of the community which makes the community stronger and enhance development (1). Health education is the responsibility of each person in the society. It might become a message for life.

Physicians are often role models for other people in the community. Medical students are potential leaders in their villages or communities. They have achieved their status with strong will and endurance. Frequently, they are the pride of the family and sometimes even of the community. As a professional group they can influence also public opinion and motivate and involve the community as well as other sectors in advocating health.

While socialization during medical education, students are pulled to highly sophisticated medical technology whereas the behavioural and attitudinal aspects are often neglected or have a minimal share within the curriculae. Even the primary health care (PHC) concept takes marginal importance throughout medical education. Knowing the overburden of medical curricula for medical students, the question presents itself:
How can their attitudes towards PHC be changed? How can they be engaged in their own community?

It is not enough to make students aware of their future multiple roles, after graduation, as

• physicians with his function in detection, prevention, diagnosis, therapy and rehabilitation of diseases
• parents in family in living sound and raising healthful children
• neighbors
• health and environmental promoters

How can they be made sensitive to their role as health and environmental promoters? Their potentiality for voluntarism can be promoted during their study.

They have to start this process early enough in order to understand that medicine is part of the social system . The learning process in medicine is mostly theoretical in form of lectures and seminars, and practical experience is mainly clinic based. Fieldwork in the community helps to understand the scope of medicine within the social context. It enriches students with experiences which will never be forgotten and make them sensible to the role of health and environmental promoters.

On the long run, medical curriculum has to incorporate an integrated health education policy and strategy within clinical and community medicine specializations. It is to be considered that the training shifts away from hospital-based to patient-oriented and community-based areas; and that it is not only during medical study but also while working as physician (in-service training).

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