Selectives Type:  Medical Humanities

Selective Title
Rural Health Care Project (BSHS Credit)		 Course Number
RHSC-4402
Prerequisites: Prior participation in at least one month of clinical work in a rural location; successful completion of all Year 3 requirements; must obtain course director's approval of proposed project and submit a signed C Form prior to enrollment
Responsible Faculty Director:
Joseph Shotwell, MD, DFAACAP
Other Faculty:
 		Contact Information
Coordinator: Brian Sullivan (bmsulliv@utmb.edu)		 Periods Offered
1-7, 10-12
excluding holiday period 8		 Maximum Enrollment
12

Learning Objectives
Most students who participate in this BSHS will be in the Rural Health Scholarly Concentration and thus will have spent time rotating at a rural clinical site, learning about the community, and planning a project. Ideally, projects will be community based participatory research, meaning that the community will assist with selecting the issue to be addressed and the strategy to be employed. Students who have an interest in rural health care but are not pursuing the scholarly concentration are also welcome to participate but should have some knowledge of or experience in a specific rural community before embarking on the BSHS.
Through this project, the following objectives will be met:
1.The student will learn to analyze rural community strengths and needs.
2.The student will identify an issue of importance to the rural community or the rural practice that aids in patient care, education, or access to services.
3.In collaboration with the RHSC Director and your rural health clinical supervisor, the student will devise a strategy to address the identified issue.
4.Ideally, the student will develop a project that is capable of being independently maintained after the student’s BSHS is completed allowing for long term impact in the target community.

Describe the qualifications background and career goals or interests of students who would benefit from the course:
Students who have an interest in rural health care, primary care, service to underserved populations, public health, the role of specialty care integration into smaller communities or community advocacy would enjoy this course.

Description of course activities
Students participating in this course are expected to have already completed clinical work in a rural location. Based on that rural health clinical experience, students will develop a concept for their project. In anticipation of the project, the student will produce an analysis of community strengths and needs - this will include, but is not limited to, population statistics (e.g. total population, age groups, ethnicities) economic factors (sources of income, major employers, insurance status, etc.), and available healthcare/community resources. Other topics that may be relevant include education, governance, and environmental health. Students are expected to access publicly available data concerning the community, but also to meet with community leaders/partners/identified practice and community stakeholders to interview them to glean additional understanding and perspectives.
The student will identify an issue of concern for the community with some impact on health. With community input, the student will devise an intervention to address the issue. The student should seek guidance from their rural health clinical supervisor or rural community members on their proposed project. The process of the project will be coordinated with the RHSC 4402 course director, and the director will provide ultimate direction and approval of the project. Upon completion of the project, the student will provide a virtual 30-minute oral presentation to the RHSC Director as well as other RHSC students. In that presentation, the student will discuss the background of the rural community, the needs identified on their rural clinical rotation, collaboration with the rural community or practice, and the intervention of their RHSC project. The student will also discuss potential plans for continuation of the project intervention after the student has completed
the RHSC project.

Proposed time requirement (%) for the student activities per 40-hour week:
Activity Percent of Activity
Faculty contact time

10
Self-directed study

40
Data collection/analysis

50
Other


Method of student evaluation

Check all that apply - complete appropriate section(s) only:
1.  Grading
   
A. Please specify your grading criteria for outstanding performance:
  Students will pass this course if their final report adequately describes the community, identifies a meaningful problem and an intervention to address the problem, and if substantive progress has been made in implementing the proposed intervention.

2.  Written Assignment (Homework, projects, notes, papers, abstracts, etc.)
A. Frequency of written assignment(s)
  Optional: If a student wishes to be considered for the John P. McGovern Academy of Oslerian Medicine Award, a 10-page written product is required.
B. Type of written assignment
  a checkbox Seminars or tutorials culminating in a research paper.
a checkbox Basic science research plus documented written report.
a checkbox Humanities, social sciences, biostatistical or epidemiological research culminating in a scholarly paper or written report.
a checkbox Clinically-based written reports focusing on a basic science or humanities problem.
a checkbox Journal club written reports
a checkbox Grant proposals
a checkbox Literature review
a checkbox Oral presentation plus written report.
a checkbox Other modality with a self-directed, scholarly research component culminating in a written report.
C. Format of written assignment
  See description under course activities. The final written product should be at least 10 pages in length, not including references or figures.
D. Method of content selection (student-selected, assigned, relate to cases, etc.)
  Student selected with community input.

3.  Oral Presentation
  A. Frequency / duration of presentation(s)?
    30-minute virtual presentation via Microsoft Teams or Zoom.
  B. Type and format of presentation
    Recommended format is PowerPoint presentation; however, students can seek approval for alternate formats with the RHSC Director.
  D. Assessment - Who assesses the student's presentation performance?
    a checkboxSelf-assessment   a checkboxPeer assessment   a checkboxFaculty assessment
  E. Method of content selection
    a checkboxStudent-selected topic   a checkboxAssigned topic

4.  Professionalism
  What expectations do you have for the student to demonstrate participation in the elective (e.g. small group activities, seminars, thoughtful questions, providing resources, journal club, resident lecture attendance)?

The instructor will discuss principles of appropriate attribution and the referencing of literature with the student. The student is expected to understand and to adhere to the principle that all presented work must be solely the student’s own.
    Students will reference all websites and other data sources, and will document interviews with community partners.

5.  Other Modes of Evaluation
  Please explain below.
    Key community partners will be asked to provide feedback on the student?s performance.