Community-Based Education and Participatory Rural Appraisal Methods

Community-based education is the need of the hour and it significantly aids medical educators to deliver contextual, student-centered, and experiential learning. The employment of participatory rural appraisal methods to deliver community-based education is an effective approach to training medical students in communication, leadership, and team-work related skills. Further, as students get exposed to the local community, they find practical relevance to reading and thereby this complete exercise aids in facilitating self-directed learning. It is quite important that all medical colleges explore the opportunity, to begin with, some form of community-based education within their settings, with a mission to produce competent medical graduates.