Preparation of Hospital Interns to work with Diverse Population

Introduction

The beginning year as a doctor or intern has been described in

different ways as a rite of passage between graduation and early working life.

The move from medical student to intern is a substantial and demanding

period in the training of a doctor. In hospital internship, medical interns will

discover different kinds of people, medical specialties, and junior doctors will

be applying everything they have learned from med school.

There are numerous elements people in the medical path consider and

one of these is their social skills. Health care professionals are expected to

have a good performance in dealing with the variegated crowd, whether it is

on their co-workers or patients. In order to be an effective medical

professional, one must master the art of dealing with a variety of individuals.

However, not everyone pursuing the medical field is gifted with the

ability to communicate to different types of people. Diversity in the workplace

generates ethical challenges such as ethnic and cultural differences,

differences in language and communication, and generational and age

differences.

The Philippine Community Internship Program was established in the

1970s as a part of the Comprehensive Community Health Program. The PCIP

was implemented with the intent to supplement the country’s (Philippines)

thinning health workforce while providing training to student doctors. The

program’s intentions are noble, tackling the lack of physicians in under served

communities while providing training to medical interns . However, inherent

characteristics of the program pose ethical and legal challenges for medical

interns. One study found that the most common issues experienced by

students were professionalism, confidentiality, the doctor-patient relationship,

informed consent, and the doctor-peer relationship. Further, the mistreatment

and abuse of medical students by more senior staff can also add to these

ethical challenges. In the Philippines, these challenges seem to be magnified

in light of several inherent limitations of the community internship program

(Capinpuyan & Miguel, 2019).

Medical education is challenging and demanding. Medical students may

face academic challenges that render them more vulnerable to mental

illnesses (such as stress and anxiety) than other university students.

Furthermore, it may impair students behaviour, diminish learning and the

impact continues after graduation, towards professional life and may extend

to patient care (Abouammah, Irfan, Marwa, Zakria & AlFaris, 2020).

Through hospital internship, medical students will be able to determine

the difference between studying the procedures of patient-care into putting it

into practice with real-life patients. Aspiring physicians in their internship will

experience difficulties in their physical & mental health and their ethics will be

challenged. Through this study, researchers will aim to discover the physical
 and mental preparations of incoming hospital interns upon encountering

obstacles to working in a diversely populated field.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This study will aim to discover the preparation of hospital interns to work with

diverse population. Specifically it will sought to answer the following questions.

1. What is the level of preparation of hospital interns to work with diverse

population in terms of:

1.1 Interpersonal Skills;

1.2 Confidence;

1.3 Collaboration;

1.4 Management;

1.5 Science;

1.6 Prevention;

1.7 Holistic care;

1.8 Self-directed learning?

2. What is the level of preparation of hospital interns to work with diverse population

in terms of:

2.1 Gender;

2.2 Medical School;

2.3 Hospital;

2.4 Age group?

3. Is there a significant difference between the level of preparation of hospital

interns to work with diverse population in terms of:

3.1 Gender;

3.2 Medical School;

3.3 Hospital;

3.4 Age group?