Selecting An Appropriate Site For Medical Education

The present study aims at locating the appropriate site for the training of medical students.   It is argued that in community oriented med1cal education the training of medical students should take place where more patients come for consultation.  This will result 1n students having a greater exposure to patients with a variety of medical problems.In order to find out the places where more patients went for medical advice, a questionnaire was des1gned and  filled  out  by  one  percent  of  the population of Esfahan, one of the main provinces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.  A total of 33,714 questionnaires  were   filled  out.  The  questions asked were whether the respondent had any medical complaints in the previous month, whether s/he had been hospitalised during the previous month, and if that was the case, how s/he had managed the problem11,230  respondents reported of at least one medical  problem,   but  only  9,818   had  sought medical advice.   9,672  respondents out of 9,818 underwent treatment in outpatient clinics and the rest  were  hospitalised      Among  the  146 hospitalised cases, only 74 cases were in teaching hospitals, that is only 0 7% of the total number of respondents who reported that they had medical problems.  945 respondents reported at least four days rest at home, that is 6 times more than hospitalised cases.The results of the study indicate that hospitals may not be the only right place for the training of medical students.   Places such as outpatient departments and ambulatory care centers attend to more patients and therefore give students greater exposure to a variety of medical problems.