Medical students benefit from Long-term community placements, but more thought needs to go into their design. Researchers found variations in the type and quality of student experiences on long-term placements that, in turn, affected the educational benefits. They suggest that curriculum designers should take a fresh look at the learning outcomes they want to be achieved, so that they can ensure community placements are allowing this to happen. Long-term placements are growing in popularity in the USA, amid concerns that the traditional clerkship, which sees students rotate through multiple short-term placements of between 6 and 8 weeks, leads to fragmented learning. In a longitudinal placement, students are attached to a community setting such as a primary care or speciality outpatient clinic for a year, typically spending half a day a week there. Students told the authors of Continuity in a longitudinal outpatient attachment for Year 3 medical students that they appreciated the chance to build long-term relationships with doctors and, in some cases, patients over the year. They felt the stability of the placement also enabled them to develop their clinical skills and gain confidence in their role as future doctors.
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