Identifying the learning objectives of clinical clerkship in community health in Japan: Focus group

Abstract

Abstract Background The value of medical education in the community has been increasingly and globally recognized. In 2015, the World Federation for Medical Education emphasized the importance of medical education in various settings in their standard. Similarly, in Japan, the Model Core Curriculum for Medical Education in Japan (MCCMEJ) is revised in 2016. However, both the learning objectives of such clerkships and their concrete strategies in Japan are not clearly established. In this study, the authors identified the learning objectives of clinical clerkship in community health reflecting the perspectives of medical professionals and community inhabitants. Methods They held six focus groups that included physicians, other medical professionals, and inhabitants (n = 35) who were involved in a clinical clerkship in community health at three prefectures in Japan from 2017 to 2018. Further, they recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed the discussion using MCCMEJ as conceptual frameworks. Results The learning objectives comprised of 13 domains. The following four domains were not found in “Basic Qualities and Capacities for Physicians” in MCCMEJ: “future‐oriented systematic view,” “organic integration of knowledge/skill,” “understanding of the community,” and “awareness as an individual physician.” Conclusion With the community inhabitants' participation, the study results reflect the community needs in Japan. The authors hope that the outcome of this study will be useful to further improve clinical clerkship in community health.

Keywords

• clinical clerkship
• community‐based medical education
• Japan
• learning objectives