Nurturing professional identity through a community based education program: medical students experience.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Professional Identity Development

Background:

• Community-based education (CBE) influences medical student outcomes.
• The specific impact of CBE on professional identity development (PID) requires further clarification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the effect of the Community and Family Case Study (CFCS) program, a form of CBE, on medical students' PID.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative phenomenological study involving medical students who completed the CFCS program.
• Data collected via focused group discussions and reflective journals.
• Thematic analysis using Atlasti software.

Main Results:

• The CFCS program fostered personal identity (skills, values), role identity (patient care, interprofessional awareness), social identity (community awareness), and research identity (epidemiology, research methods).
• These identities collectively contribute to the overall PID of medical students.

Conclusions:

• The CFCS program effectively promotes PID in medical students.
• Integrating CBE into medical curricula is crucial for preparing competent future physicians.