Abstract:
Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of student’s clerkship as an approach to community based medical education in
improving the health of community.
Materials and Methods: This interventional study was conducted at Ziauddin Medical College; Karachi from December 2006
to December 2007.Data was collected by using structured questionnaire after the approval of university ethical review committee.
Before collecting the data informed written consent was obtained from all study participants. Baseline data was recorded from100
enrolled families. Medical students visited the enrolled families on fortnightly basis during which they carried out detailed
counseling and interactive sessions. At the end of four month, post intervention data was recorded and all baseline parameters
were compared with.
Results: The pre and the posttest results showed significant improvement in the knowledge of mothers regarding prevention
and management of diarrhea.
Conclusion: Community-based education can be used as effective tool in improving the health of community. Health services
should support the community based interventions to improve the knowledge and practices of mother which can contribute
effectively towards improving infant and child health
