# Reflection on Five Months Rural District Hospital Posting of Final Year MBBS Students

## TL;DR

Final-year medical students gained valuable experience during a rural hospital posting in Nepal, helping them become more competent and empathetic healthcare professionals.

## Contribution

The paper highlights the importance of rural postings in medical education for developing socially accountable healthcare professionals.

## Key findings

- Students learned the functioning of a district hospital and acquired clinical skills.
- They gained experience using health information systems and qualitative tools for health reporting.
- Such postings are recommended to be included in medical curricula to improve professional competence.

## Abstract

Patan Academy of Health Sciences has been sending its undergraduate medical students to rural postings aligning with the national health system of Nepal to produce competent and empathetic healthcare professionals as a part of its social accountability. One such rural posting is a 20-week-long district posting where students are posted at district hospital and district health office. We were final-year students posted at Gulmi district for this purpose in the year 2021/22. We learned the functioning of a district hospital along with different clinical skills. We also learned to use the district health information system and different qualitative tools in drafting district health reports and strategic planning under the guidance of the District Health Office. Such exposure of medical students is essential to develop competent and empathetic health professionals and similar provisions should be included in the undergraduate curriculum of other universities.