Connecting with the community—experiences of medical students doing homestays in rural South Africa

The study situates these findings within broader discourses on decentralized health professions education (HPE), arguing that authentic, relational learning in community settings can challenge hierarchical and urban-centric models of medical training. The homestay model facilitated a shift in educational space-from controlled clinical environments to complex, lived community contexts-enhancing students' professional identity formation and responsiveness to rural health needs. The process of place-making seems to be key in shaping meaning making and transformational change. The homestay project demonstrated the potential of community immersion to transform medical education by fostering empathy, cultural understanding, and a deeper, authentic connection to the lived realities of patients in shaping socially accountable health professionals.