Acceptance of a homestay program and attitude toward community medicine among medical students

Background In community-based medical education, opportunities for medical students to interact with local residents are important. To facilitate such interaction, we aimed to evaluate acceptance of a homestay program and attitude toward community medicine among medical students. Methods The participants (n = 39) were allowed to stay in the local homes of residents for one night in August 2016, 2017, and 2018. Before and after the homestays, the students responded to a self-reported questionnaire using the visual analog scale (VAS; 0-100 mm). The questionnaire included four questions on homestay/community medical training and community medicine and four questions about attitude toward community medicine in the local areas of medical students. Then, we compared the VAS scores before and after training. Results The VAS scores for all questions about homestay/community medical training and community medicine significantly increased: "Is it worthwhile for you to have experience in the field of community medicine," "Did you find the homestay enjoyable," "Does the homestay add educational significance to the program," and "Is direct interaction with residents meaningful?" For the two questions about attitude toward community medicine, the VAS scores significantly increased: "Is there a challenge to practicing community medicine" and "In the future, do you want to work in Tamba area where you stayed?" Conclusions The medical students were extremely enthusiastic about the educational program for community medicine involving residential homestays, which improved their attitudes toward practicing community medicine. Moreover, the students appreciated that their training sites could become their future workplaces.