One Hospital Department with Three Affiliated Medical Schools - Yea or Nay? A Cross-sectional Survey of Students and Tutors

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Background The experience of teaching students from multiple medical schools with separate curriculums and learning ethos within a single healthcare institution is not well-documented in literature. Objective We aimed to identify the benefits and challenges of having students from three medical schools train within one department from the clinical tutors’ and medical students’ viewpoint. Methods This was a cross-sectional study at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH). A survey was conducted on clinical tutors and students from three medical schools for their viewpoints on a 5-point Likert scale. Results 91 of 100 (91%) students and 51 of 60 (85%) tutors returned the survey. 95.6% of students and 94.1% of tutors agreed that it was important for KKH to be involved in the teaching of all three medical schools. 83.5% of students and 76.5% of tutors believed they would benefit from shared teaching and learning materials. 84.3% of tutors and 83.6% of students agreed that they could be exposed to new teaching methods while 84.7% of students and 72.5% of tutors believed that opportunities to collaborate between schools would arise. However, 25 (49%) tutors and 58 (63.7%) students believed that there may be limited supervision. Students (60.4%) and tutors (56.9%) alike felt that there would be a lack of learning space. Conclusion Both students and tutors believed that it was important for medical students for the department in KKH to be involved in the teaching of all three medical schools. Benefits perceived included shared teaching and learning resources, exposure to new teaching methods and opportunity for collaboration across medical schools. Through careful planning of rotations and supportive leadership, hospitals can optimise teaching capabilities allowing students and tutors to benefit from advantages of teaching of students from multiple medical schools.