2019/01/04 by Shannon Moffett, Hosseinali Shahidi, Harsh Sule +1 · 1 citation
Health Professions · Social Sciences · #Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations #Cultural Competency in Health Care #Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.15766/mep_2374-8265.10789
openalex publication_date 2019/01/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
Introduction: Demand that health centers address health inequities has led medical schools to emphasize social determinants of health (SDH). The Emergency Department often serves as first (or sole) point of health care access, making it an ideal environment in which to identify/explore SDH. Yet there are few SDH curricula targeting core emergency medicine (EM) clerkships. We describe implementation and outcomes of a three-part SDH curriculum instituted in a 4-week EM clerkship. Methods: We created a longitudinal curriculum aimed at fourth-year medical students in their EM clerkship. Students interviewed patients to discuss social and other influences on their health care and wrote reflections. After this, they discussed their individual cases in small groups, selected one patient, and found literature and strategies/systems to fit the patient's needs. Finally, groups presented their work to student-peers and faculty for discussion. Students were assessed for each activity and surveyed for impact of the curriculum. Results: ), students responded with means of 4.4 to "I am able to recognize barriers to health that patients and families face from diverse socio-economic backgrounds" and 4.6 to "I feel it is important to recognize and address the social determinants of health as part of whole patient care." Discussion: This curriculum introduces SDH, uses metacognitive skills across multiple domains, and is feasible and has been well received in an EM clerkship.