EVALUATING AN INNOVATIVE CO-CREATION MODEL FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING IN COMMUNITY MEDICINE

Background: As preventive medicine gains importance, healthcare professionals must be equipped with competencies in community health promotion and engagement. To strengthen these skills, a student co-creation model was introduced in the “Introduction to Community Medicine” course at Phramongkutklao College of Medicine, Thailand. Third-year medical students were divided into ten groups and tasked with designing and delivering peer-teaching sessions on public health topics, positioning them as both learners and educators. Despite its growing recognition, co-creation in community medicine remains underexplored, particularly in settings where students assume dual roles as teachers and learners. Objectives: This study evaluated students’ perceptions of the co-creation model and its performance in examinations compared with traditional lecture-based learning in community-oriented medical education. Methods: This descriptive study compared examination outcomes between the 2022 lecture-based cohort and the 2023 co-creation cohort. Examination data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and measures of variability. Student perceptions were collected through an anonymous survey comprising five-point Likert-scale items, open-ended questions, and a multiple-choice recommendation item, yielding an 80% response rate (N = 95). Results: Students reported positive perceptions of the co-creation experience, describing it as engaging and meaningful for learning through teaching. Reported learning related experiences included communication skills, teamwork, creativity, and confidence in explaining public health concepts. Challenges like time constraints and uneven workload distribution among group members are also reported. A majority of respondents indicated that they would recommend continuing the co-creation approach. Examination scores differed between the 2022 and 2023 cohorts, with mean scores of 41.0% and 56.2%, respectively. Score variability, expressed as the coefficient of variation, was 21.6% in 2022 and 17.5% in 2023. These results are presented descriptively, and no causal inferences can be drawn from this comparison. Conclusion: Student co-creation was associated with positive learning experiences and high levels of student engagement in community medicine education. Examination results provide contextual information on knowledge acquisition but may not fully reflect collaborative and creative competencies emphasized in the co-creation process. These findings suggest that student co-creation is a feasible pedagogical approach in community-oriented medical education, while highlighting the need for future research that uses aligned assessment strategies and more robust study designs.