Academic achievement of final-year medical students on a rural clinical platform : can we dispel the myths?

CITATION: Van Schalkwyk, S., et al. 2015. Academic achievement of final-year medical students on a rural clinical platform : can we dispel the myths?. African Journal of Health Professions Education, 7(1):115-118, doi:10.7196/AJHPE.513.The original publication is available at http://www.ajhpe.org.zaENGLISH SUMMARY : Background: There is a growing body of literature relating to the establishment of rural clinical training platforms for medical students describing many positive outcomes, particularly in the case of extended placements. However, students’ fears about their academic achievement while at these sites remain a key concern. Objectives: The study set out to compare the academic achievement in end-of-rotation assessments and final examinations of final-year medical students at a rural clinical school (RCS) with those of their peers at the academic hospital complex (AHC). Methods. A cross-sectional study, comparing the marks of three successive cohorts of RCS and AHC students (2011 - 2013) using t-tests and confirmed with non-parametric rank-sum tests, was conducted. The consistency of the effect of these results across cohorts was assessed by fitting regression models with interaction terms between cohort and group, and tested for significance using F-tests. Independent t-tests were conducted to evaluate differences in the mark attained between the two groups. A p-value