From leadership research to district action: Empowering future public health professionals: The impact of community-based education on students’ maternal and child health competencies

AI-assisted editorial implementation guide. Proposed district actions are separate from the original authors’ findings and recommendations. Independent peer review of this guide is not asserted.

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Evidence and transfer

Education-related source: verify which participants, institutions and outcomes were actually studied before district adoption. Source publication type: research-article. License and identity checks do not establish study quality or causality.

Original authors’ abstract, reproduced under the source license:

Abstract Preparing future public health professionals to address real-world maternal and child health (MCH) challenges requires educational approaches that extend beyond classroom instruction. In this context, integrating community-based education (CBE) into the curriculum serves as a pivotal strategy. This study assesses the implementation and effectiveness of a CBE module in MCH, designed for strengthening the knowledge and competencies of undergraduate public health students. A mixed-method pre- and post-intervention design was used to assess changes in students’ knowledge, skills, and practical competencies following one year of supervised community engagement in a semi-urban setting in Lahore, Pakistan. Quantitative assessments included survey questionnaires, quizzes, MCQs, and OSCE, while qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions, and self-reflection logs. Descriptive statistics, a paired-samples t-test, and a marginal homogeneity test were used to assess students’ learning and research outcomes. For qualitative data, thematic analysis was conducted using a deductive-inductive approach. Pre- and post- analysis revealed significant improvements (p < 0.001) in students’ knowledge across all MCH domains, along with enhanced skills of leadership, project/time management, communication, problem-solving, teamwork, handling unexpected situations, and designing community-tailored interventions (p < 0.001) following CBE implementation. Ongoing assessments indicated consistent learning with a mean quiz score of 80.2% (SD = 7.2), and a mean MCQ exam score of 81.5% (SD = 7.6). Qualitative data further revealed increased empathy, cultural sensitivity, and professional confidence. The study concludes that the CBE program provides students with valuable insights into the specific needs and challenges of communities related to MCH, thereby enhancing their knowledge and competency development. This experience supports the continuation of CBE programs for future students.

Study methods

This paper is a part of a broader post-doctoral research project with International Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) Institute, USA of RZ (first author) on the topic of “Improving Women’s Health and Strengthening CBE through Center for Research on Maternal and Child Health at Department of Public Health, University of the Punjab.” The project was conducted in three phases: First phase dealt with the selection of community, assessing the health needs of the selected community, development of CBE module on MCH, training of faculty and students on the CBE module, and pre-CBE implementation assessment of students’ knowledge, skills and competencies related to MCH (the results of community health need assessment [11] and module development [12] are published separately). The second phase was related to the implementation of the CBE module in the field, and the third phase aimed at evaluating its effectiveness from the perspective of both the students and the community. This paper specifically presents the findings of the impact of CBE on students’ MCH knowledge, skills, competencies, and learning experiences. A mixed-methods approach was used, with quantitative assessments conducted at pre- and post-implementation and qualitative assessments conducted during and after implementation. Evaluation methods included quizzes, MCQ examinations, pre- and post-tests, Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs), focus group discussions (FGDs), and students’ self-reflection logs.

Limitations

No passage was selected automatically. Inspect the complete source before adopting a practice.

A 90-day district inquiry

Days 1–15 · Appraise. Read the source methods, recruitment, comparator, outcomes and limitations. Record how the study setting differs from your district and which claim the design can support.
Days 16–30 · Design. Choose one school improvement question with teachers. Protect a short shared planning cycle, agree an instructional change and use a common rubric for examining student work. Agree participation, privacy protections, baseline and stopping rules before starting.
Days 31–60 · Observe. Collect the pre-agreed measures, keep a log of implementation changes and invite confidential voluntary feedback. Preserve existing support for staff and learners.
Days 61–90 · Decide. Review implementation fidelity, teacher time and independently scored student work against a recorded baseline. Examine access differences and competing explanations before attributing changes to leadership. Make a dated decision to stop, revise or extend the inquiry.

Board decision brief

Present the local problem, source setting, evidence limits, intervention, responsible owner, total cost, measured changes and uncertainty. Separate staff perceptions, implementation measures and student learning outcomes.

Attribution and reuse

Rubeena Zakar; Gulzar Shah; Ruhma Shahzad; Nazoora Manal Zakar; Ara Tekian. Empowering future public health professionals: The impact of community-based education on students’ maternal and child health competencies. PLOS One (2026-06-01). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0345916

Prepared 2026-11-07. Source authorship and DOI are preserved. The abstract and source passages are attributed extracts; this editorial guide is offered under the same CC BY 4.0 license.