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. 2024 Apr 12;24(1):409.
doi: 10.1186/s12909-024-05412-3.

Perceptions and experiences of undergraduate medical students regarding social accountability: a cross-sectional study at a Subsaharan African medical school

Lorraine Oriokot  1 , Ian Guyton Munabi  2 , Sarah Kiguli  3 , Aloysius Gonzaga Mubuuke  4
Affiliations

Perceptions and experiences of undergraduate medical students regarding social accountability: a cross-sectional study at a Subsaharan African medical school

Lorraine Oriokot et al. BMC Med Educ. .

Abstract

Background: Medical schools are called to be socially accountable by medical education and healthcare system stakeholders. Social accountability is a feature of excellent medical education. Medical students are essential to the development of socially accountable medical schools. Therefore, understanding the perceptions and experiences of medical students regarding social accountability is critical for efforts to improve social accountability practices and outcomes.

Methods: This cross-sectional online questionnaire-based survey used Google Forms and involved medical students in their fourth and fifth years of study at the Makerere University School of Medicine. The survey was conducted between September 2022 and October 2023. We used a study questionnaire and a validated toolkit designed by students as part of The Training for Health Equity Collaborative to gauge a school's progress towards social accountability in medical schools to collect data on demographics, perceptions and experiences and evaluate social accountability.

Results: Out of 555 eligible medical students, 426 responded to the online questionnaire. The response rate was 77%. The mean age of the students was 25.24 ± 4.4 years. Almost three fourths of the students were male (71.3%), and slightly less than two thirds were in their fourth year of study (65%). Almost half of the students (48.1%%) evaluated the school as doing well with regard to social accountability. The evaluation items referring to community-based research and positive impact on the community had the highest mean scores. Only 6 (3.6%) students who reported hearing of social accountability had a clear understanding of social accountability. Students receiving career guidance in secondary school was associated with evaluating social accountability in the medical school as strong (p-0.003).

Conclusions: Medical students evaluated the medical school favorably forsocial accountability despite lacking a clear understanding of social accountability. Receiving career guidance in secondary school was significantly associated with a positive evaluation of social accountability.

Keywords: Community-based education research and service; Medical education; Medical school; Medical students; Social accountability.

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Conflict of interest statement

AGM is a member of the BMC Medical Education editorial board. The other authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

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Fig. 1
Level of preparedness for last community-based education research and service experience
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Evaluation categories of social accountability at the medical school
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