A home visit programme to teach medical students about children with special needs

Objectives During an 8‐week clinical rotation in paediatrics and child health, fifth‐year medical students at the University of Cape Town are required to visit children with special needs in their homes. The home visit allows students to learn, first‐hand, from children with special needs and their families about living with chronic disease and disability. Design During 1998 students anonymously completed home visit evaluation questionnaires (90% response rate, 160/177). Through verbal presentations, students are assessed on their ability to make a comprehensive evaluation of the impact of chronic disease and disability on a child and family. Setting University of Cape Town Medical School. Subjects Fifth‐year medical students. Results A content analysis of verbal presentations found students were more likely to identify medical, psychosocial and economic than spiritual and ethical issues. As a learning experience, 37% (n=57) of students rated the home visit as ‘extremely worthwhile’, 62% (n=100) found it ‘worthwhile’ and only 2% (n=3) felt it was ‘a waste of time’. Most (97%, n=155) students felt the programme should continue in the future. Conclusions As an educational tool, home visiting grounds learning in families’ experience and encourages reflection beyond the medical aspects of care for children with special needs.