Evaluating a community-based multiprofessional course in community health.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate student response to a community health course taught using a small-group, interdisciplinary, service-learning approach.


METHODS
Student evaluations for the course were reviewed for a 3-year period (1994 1997).


RESULTS
Student evaluations of the course improved over the 3-year period. A total of 60-76% of the students indicated that they preferred the small-group experiential approach to lectures. Examination of evaluation scores for individual small groups showed that some small groups gave the course very high ratings, while others found the experience inadequate.


CONCLUSIONS
A course in community health is best taught in the community rather than the classroom. A small-group approach may result in a course with considerable variation among groups as a result of variations in community receptivity, faculty skills, and perhaps other factors.
Blumenthal
D S
DS
Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30310, USA. danielb@msm.edu
Jones
A
A
McNeal
M
M