Abstract
Purpose: While social determinants of health (SDOH) are best taught experientially, the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily halted traditional clinical rotations. We created a curriculum designed to teach SDOH to medical students using distance learning to reduce COVID-19 exposures.
Methods: The curriculum consisted of a book/movie club and two virtual projects, one on historical racial trauma, and one on SDOH. The projects involved students self-selecting a town or neighborhood for their work. Using the Internet, students researched a racial/ethnic group that had been displaced from their selected location. They then identified the pressures that caused relocation, and, lastly, assessed the current status of their community to understand racial disparities. For the SDOH exercise, students explored their selected community’s human services programs. We used a retrospective pre-post survey designed to assess the impact of the program on students’ perceived knowledge of SDOH and their confidence addressing it as clinicians.
Results: Nineteen students took the elective and 18 completed the evaluation (94.7%). Students’ self-rated changes in knowledge for all items increased statistically between pre- and post-elective assessments, with the largest increases for the use of a SDOH screening tool (mean=2.56 pre to 4.11 post, ppp
Conclusions: Overall the curriculum appears to be effective at meeting its objectives and despite the lifting of gathering restrictions the course remains in a virtual format to this day. Students report increased knowledge and confidence in applying their SDOH skills in patient care settings.
Recommended Citation
Wiser, Eric M.; Taylor, Cynthia; Latham, Jessica; and Carney, Patricia A.
(2024)
"A Novel Approach for Teaching Social Determinants of Health,"
Health Professions Education: Vol. 10:
Iss.
2, Article 5.
Available at:
https://hpe.researchcommons.org/journal/vol10/iss2/5
