Going bush--helping medical students learn from aboriginal people

To help medical students learn about Aboriginal culture and health by introducing them to Aboriginal people living in rural and remote areas.

A seven-day field trip to Aboriginal communities and local health services in the eastern Goldfields Region of Western Australia.

Students interviewed local Aboriginal people, and representatives of community organisations and health service providers, and supplemented this information with their own field observations. The field research was used in completing three community health projects: one on infant health, another on environmental health, and a third on general beliefs of Aboriginal people about health and disease, prevention and treatment, and traditional and Western medicine.

Knowledge about and attitudes towards Aboriginal people were assessed by anonymous questionnaires before and after the field trip.

The field trip tripled (on average) the number of Aboriginal people with whom the students had ever had a conversation. Potentially important increases were seen in the proportion of students who could correctly name actions of doctors that Aboriginal people might find offensive. Seven of the nine students "strongly agreed" that their attitudes to Aboriginal people were more positive as a result of the trip, and the other two "agreed". All would recommend such a trip to their colleagues.

By visiting Aboriginal communities, medical students can gain important insights into Aboriginal health problems and ways in which health services can be made more acceptable to Aboriginal people.