Community-oriented medical emergency programme: development and evaluation issues

A community-oriented medical emergency programme for multidisciplinary healthcare professionals on the Higher Professional Diploma in International Healthcare Studies, at the United Medical Education College, London is described. The main aim of the course is to introduce students to the clinical skills of dealing with medical emergency problems and situations. Students are also exposed to how medical emergency is practised in the community. The four-week programme consists of 16 sessions of clinical skills teaching where students are attached to various community clinics, 10 sessions of college teaching, consisting of talks, workshops and interactive small-group work and four sessions encouraging students to learn independently in a self-directed learning format. Student and tutor evaluations of the programme demonstrate that its aims are being met. However, further adaptation of the module to increase the range and quantity of clinical cases for student learning is being planned.