Community-based education of health personnel: report of a who study group/ World Health Organization

Introduction -- Definitions and explanations -- The rationale of community-based education -- The principles and issues -- Recommendations on how to start a community-based educational programme -- Recommendations on how to foster an understanding of the concept of community-based education -- Recommendations to the world health organization

A detailed explanation of the meaning of community-based education, including its objectives, conceptual foundations, and relationship to current theories of education and methods of teaching. The report, which is addressed to the directors, deans, and teaching staff of medical and other health-related schools, opens with a discussion of trends that have created a demand for health personnel capable of responding more effectively to community needs. The concept of community-based education is presented and discussed in terms of its underlying principles, its overall advantages, its organizational components and the major problems and constraints facing implementation. Numerous practical examples are used to illustrate how the concept can operate in various training systems or situations where competence is acquired through close contact with problems in the community