Developing the future Indigenous health workforce: The feasibility and impact of a student-led placement programme in remote Indigenous communities

OBJECTIVE: To describe and evaluate a programme where medical students designed and implemented Indigenous health placements for students with an interest in rural/Indigenous health.

DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: In 2011, a student-led programme at the University of Adelaide was set up to give medical students the opportunity to undertake outreach trips and clinical placements in remote Indigenous communities. Twenty-four medical students attended trips to remote communities between 2012 and 2014. Here we evaluate our programme using a single-arm experimental design.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Responses to questionnaire items before and after attending an outreach placement, scored on 6-point Likert scales.

RESULTS: Following their remote Indigenous health placement, participants expressed a significantly higher mean likelihood of working in an Indigenous community in the future (3.17 (2.69-3.64) versus 4.00 (3.65-4.35); P < 0.007). Furthermore, after their placement participants felt better prepared to work in Indigenous communities (mean 1.79 (1.44-2.14) versus 3.21 (2.88-3.54); P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: A placement programme initiated and run by medical students can provide meaningful exposure to Indigenous health. Implementation of this student-led model in other medical schools may encourage nationwide development of the Indigenous health workforce.