BSHS Selectives 2023-2024
Selectives Type:  Medical Humanities

Selective Title
Rural Health Care Project (BSHS Credit)		 Course Number
RHCT-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:
Oscar Brown, MD
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 Care Scholarly Concentration, and thus will have spent several months in their target community already, 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 community strengths and needs
2. The student will identify an issue of importance to the community or the practice that aids in patient care, education, or access to services and devise a strategy to address the need
3.The student will develop a project that is capable of being independently maintained after the students tenure is completed.
4. The student will analyze the impact of the intervention they initiate.

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 identified the rural community of interest, and develop a concept for a project within the first few weeks. The student will seek guidance from a physician or provider in the specific community or practice and may seek input from any additional faculty source at UTMB to review the concept, academic work, and help with project. The process of the project will be coordinated with the RHCT 4402 course director and the director will provide ultimate direction and approval of 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.), healthcare resources. Other topics that may be relevant include education, governance, 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 and with community input, devise an intervention to address the issue. The student will be able to describe the scope of the problem and will ensure that a way to assess if the intervention has impact is included in planning and implementing the project. The students survey of the community should be presented to the committee early in the course. By the end of the period, the student will be able to produce a report that includes the community survey, a statement of need/description of the scope of the problem to be addressed, and an outline of the project. Ideally, work will have begun on the project. A description of plans for continuation (if incomplete) of the project once the student leaves must also be included. An evaluation plan for the project must be in place. Students participating in this course are expected to be resident in the target community for much of the time. Committee members and liaison faculty will assist students in making necessary contacts and refining their plans.

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)
  One final report
B. Type of written assignment
  Seminars or tutorials culminating in a research paper.
Basic science research plus documented written report.
Humanities, social sciences, biostatistical or epidemiological research culminating in a scholarly paper or written report.
Clinically-based written reports focusing on a basic science or humanities problem.
Journal club written reports
Grant proposals
Literature review
Oral presentation plus written report.
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 presentation of community survey
  B. Type and format of presentation
    The student can decide the best way to present to the project committee - a Skype PowerPoint presentation may be the most efficient.
  D. Assessment - Who assesses the student's presentation performance?
    Self-assessment   Peer assessment   Faculty assessment
  E. Method of content selection
    Student-selected topic   Assigned 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.
    In addition to evaluating the community survey presentation and the final report, committee members and any other key community partners will be asked to complete a very brief questionnaire to provide feedback on the student's performance.