Undergraduate students' choices around community service and internship: A single faculty study.
Heather Talberg, Tamara Dayaram, Sarah Geel and 4 others
PMID 38725968WHAT IT FOUND
For community service and internship, students' most common first choices were Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
Rural placement was divided, and reported factors were supervision, safety, home proximity and social support.
Key findings
01Among 84 students giving a first ICSP choice, Western Cape was chosen by 38, KwaZulu-Natal by 17 and Gauteng by 14.
02Twenty-seven of 45 health and rehabilitation students said they would consider a rural placement, while 15 of 40 medical students said they would; the difference was not significant.
03Seventy-four of 85 respondents said undergraduate placements influenced their ICSP choice, and factors grouped into work environment and professional support, and social and personal considerations.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study calculated a sample size of 116, but the final analysed sample was 85 students. It was done at one faculty in one university, so other universities or provinces may have different students and facilities. Health and rehabilitation students were analysed together, so there are no separate results for physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech-language therapy or audiology. The questionnaire was self-developed rather than an established instrument, and it was validated by two people and piloted with 10 students. Only two respondents were from rural backgrounds, so the paper cannot say much about rural-origin students. The survey measured intentions and perceived factors at one time, not actual ICSP placements or causes.
Declared interests
The authors reported no financial support for the research, authorship or publication.
The easy way to misread this
Do not apply these placement preferences to physiotherapy, occupational therapy or speech-language therapy students as a group. The study analysed health and rehabilitation students together, had only 85 respondents from one faculty, and did not report results for each profession separately.