Project C.H.A.M.P. – Philippines (AMSA-Philippines)

Name of the activity: Project C.H.A.M.P.

Country/NMO: Philippines (AMSA-Philippines)

Program: Teaching Medical Skills

Contact information: [email protected]

Type of the activity: Capacity Building (Training or Workshop)

General description:

Project C.H.A.M.P. is a continuing initiative which started on November 2016 thru the efforts of TAMBAL and Dr. Ralph Nico R. Selibio. The Project C.H.A.M.P. (Community Health Apprenticeship and Mentoring Program) initiative is based on the clear recognition and understanding of the challenges that every educational institution and student in general face today, which is to perfectly blend adequate knowledge, mastery of clinical skills, and the development of the right attitude into a well-orchestrated medical practice among future doctors.
For one week in the Municipality of San Enrique, the student volunteers will undergo skills training, lecture discussions, actual patient interaction, basic medical procedures, along with hands-on and group sharing activities.

Focus area:

First Aid/CPR/BLS, Surgical Skills, History Taking, Diagnostic measures, Clinical Examination, Doctor-Patient communication skills, Diagnostic tests interpretation, Maternal and Child Health Clinical Skills, Soft Skills for medical practitioners

Problem statement:

The shift to Outcome-Based Education (OBE) among medical schools has been the latest revolutionary change that intends to prepare students for the highest standards of the profession. Standards, which are in turn developed into outcomes, competencies, and instructional objectives. Philippine medical education has since then been encouraged to implement OBE in order to remain locally and globally competitive, and in order for students to truly experience transformative education. The Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, Philippine Qualifications framework, and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Memorandum Order No. 46 s. 2012, and 18 s. 2016 have all been precursors to this reform, however there is still much inattention to properly understanding the new system. This gap continues to separate the technical competencies and fundamental values that one expects to fully integrate in every student. Thus, TAMBAL’s Project C.H.A.M.P. (Community Health Apprenticeship and Mentoring Program) has been borne as a response to the recognition and understanding of the challenge that every educational institution and student in general face today, which is to perfectly blend adequate knowledge, mastery of clinical skills, and the development of the right attitude into a well-orchestrated medical practice among future doctors.

Target groups and beneficiaries:

• Medical Students
• People in assigned areas

Objectives and indicators of success:

The C.H.A.M.P. initiative primarily aims to enhance the skills, knowledge and attitude of the medical students of University of St. La Salle by exposing them to the current public health situation of our country. Specifically, this program strives to:

• Provide students the opportunity to learn the pillars of public health by providing them lectures, group discussions and conferences on the current health issues and events that arise in our society as well as the measures and strategies which can be used to improve health indicators and health realities (Indicators of success: # of lectures, group discussions, conferences held, # of participants attended, # of participants who learned new things # of participants advocating for social issues tackled after the workshop);

• Provide the students the opportunity to exercise beginning skills and clinical competence by allowing them to deliver the health services directly to patients in public health centers where they are stationed in (Indicators of success: # of participants, # of basic health services rendered, qualitative testimonials from participants and patients);

• Allow students to actively participate in evaluative measures on the health indicators, realities, and activities so they may personally understand and appreciate the importance of learning in the course of serving both the well and the sick (Indicators of success: # of health education lectures and talks held, # of people who attended the lectures given, qualitative testimonials);

• Provide students the opportunity to be aware of themselves as social beings and to build relationships among peers which are constructive leading to team efficiency (Indicators of success: # of participants, # of group and team-building activities, # of new connections and networks formed, qualitative testimonials); and

• Provide students the opportunity to appreciate the relevance of the La Sallian values as a guiding compass in the practice of God-centered healing by teaching minds, touching hearts and transforming lives (Indicators of success: qualitative testimonials)

Methodology:

The first wave of Project C.H.A.M.P. was held on November 16-30, 2016, while the second wave was held on June 19 – July 14, 2017.

Participants:
For Wave 1 (November 16-30, 2016), there were 37 medical students from the University of St. La Salle who volunteered to participate; 6 third years, 21 second years and 10 first years. They were divided into four batches and each batch had a different schedule:
• Batch 1: November 16-18, 2016
• Batch 2: November 21-23, 2016
• Batch 3: November 23-25, 2016
• Batch 4: November 28-30, 2016

For Wave 2 (June 19-July 14, 2017), there were 50 medical students from the University of St. La salle who volunteered to participate; 18 third years, 23 second years, 9 first years. They were divided into four batches and each batch had a different schedule:
• Batch 1: June 19-23, 2017
• Batch 2: June 26-30, 2017
• Batch 3: July 3-7, 2017
• Batch 4: July 10-14, 2017

Also, for the 2nd wave of C.H.A.M.P., TAMBAL expanded its implementation and invited some students from West Visayas State University – College of Medicine.

Setting: C.H.A.M.P. was held in the Rural Health Unit of San Enrique, Negros Occidental. San Enrique is a fourth income class municipality located in the Southern part of Negros Occidental. The municipality is politically subdivided into 10 barangays with a total population of around 24, 000.

Implementation: Each batch immersed in the Rural Health Unit of San Enrique, Negros Occidental for 3 days and 2 nights during Wave 1, and for 4-5 days, and 3-4 nights during Wave 2. The activity commenced with a courtesy call at the office of the municipal mayor. Then, an orientation of the activities was held with Dr. Selibio, the MHO of the municipality. After the orientation, the students were toured in the center.

• For 3 days for Wave 1 and 4-5 days for Wave 2, the following activities were done by the students:
1. History taking
2. Vital signs taking and physical examination
3. Assisting in prenatal check-up
4. Perform Leopold’s Maneuver
5. Assist in immunizations (National Immunization Program)
6. Assist in giving parenteral medications and TT vaccines
7. Assist in skin testing
8. Labor watch
9. Assist in delivery
10. Assist in newborn care
11. Assisting in suturing and removal of sutures
12. Providing patient education
13. Participate in the RHU/LGU activities like mass drug testing and blood-letting
14. Learn basic clinical laboratory work and interpretation of results
15. Consultations
16. Training for basic surgical skills (suturing)

• The students also had crash course (lectures and workshops) on the social determinants of health, 6 pillars or building blocks of health-care, DOH public health road map, qualities of a five-star physician, health financing and economic, community diagnosis and some health concerns like National TB Control Program and the Updated Immunization Schedule. The participants also had some group activities like the “Equity Walk” and developing a “Problem-Solution Tree.”

• Since one of the objectives of this activity is to build relationship among peers, the participants were given time to talk and bond with each other when they prepare their food, when eating and on free times.

• Different advocacies were also promoted by the participants; which was done through community education and awareness lectures regarding the dangers of vector-borne diseases for the Dengue Awareness Month, discussing safety, sanitation, and the proper use of toilets for the Zero Open Defecation Program, campaigning the benefits of Folic Acid Supplementation to mothers and pregnant women, and finally the importance of incorporating nutritious food to one’s diet for the Nutrition Month advocacy.

• To end the activity, the participants gathered and were asked to share what they’ve learned and experienced.

Plans for evaluation:

• Survey/Questionnaire
• Interview with the participant/activity coordinator/people in the municipality who received services from the participants and listened to the different health awareness lectures