Another Young Family of Practitioners in the Rural Community for Eight-week Rural Attachment.

Eight week Rural Attachment

My desire to raise a family of practitioners is getting fulfilled day by day. Two weeks ago, I managed to take six clinicians to Karurumo in Embu County, in the eastern part of Kenya where they will be attached to Karurumo Rural Training Health Centre for eight full weeks.

Benard (at the centre back) with third year Clinical Medicine students from St. Paul's University Limuru on their way to Karurumo, Embu County, Kenya for the eight week rural attachment practice.

Objectives

The objective of the program is to equip students with the following skills;

1. Ability to resolve more and refer less

2. Learning how to utilize few resources in the limited resource setting

3. How to establish and maintain the three C's - Communication, Context and Continuity in care.

4. Learning how to recognize common ailments, and prioritizing care in terms of resource distribution within the hospital and the community.

5. How to manage the few available resources

6. How to manage time, and balance between work and family

Family Medicine is the foundation of Primary Care

Looking at the above objectives, it is clear that the agenda of raising Five star Doctors is being met. From a future perspective, these are practitioners that would establish and maintain relationships with patients, make follow up and identify the subjective aspects behind illness of patients.

In summary, the eight week rural attachment is one of the frameworks that has its value and place in the Family Medicine model of patient care. The above objectives provide a foundation upon which Family Medicine principles are built including patient centered care, creation of a physician's habitat, proper resource management and professionalism in medical practice.

Benard Chinua, FMP, Edinburgh.