Impact of a Community Engaged Medical Education Program Built Using a Systematic Framework: Q&A and Discussion

Proposal: Medical schools are facing the challenge of teaching students how to incorporate the social determinants of health through community engaged medical education (CEME). CEME is an effective tool to teach medical students the skills needed to integrate all the determinants of health into their clinical practice but it is being implemented in many medical schools in a variety of ways [1, 2, 3]. During this presentation, we will review the outcomes of our novel CEME program, the Human Dimension (HD) Course at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine (HMSOM) built using a novel systematic framework. We will share how our unique curriculum impacted our students' training and development, as well as which components are the most impactful and the reasons why.

The data presented will be from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved exploratory study. Methods of data collection were multimodal and included a written survey, focus groups, and individual interviews. Interview guides and questions were developed using the content of the foundational framework. A survey was administered to a cohort of students who had completed the full 3 year HD course and were approaching graduation. Seventy one out of 89 students responded, a response rate of 80%. Survey results showed that students experienced significant growth in line with the goals of our curriculum, including:
Understanding determinants of health
Collaborating
Promote equity
Humanism
Cultural Humility, Diversity, and Justice
Developing Physician Resiliency

Results of focus groups include qualitative data revealing the following key skills students developed:
Having a comprehensive view of patients
Bringing the Social Determinants of Health to life
Being able to effectively work with communities and community partnerships
Improved cultural humility
Improved ability to reflect and build deliberate practice
Improved communication skills
Improved leadership and ability to provide health education

Students reported that their longitudinal in-home work with individual families in the community was the most impactful aspect of the curriculum that prepared them for their clinical practice during clerkships.

This session will help participants understand the key features of a CEME program and what skills learners gain from such programs. Transferable lessons will be shared so participants can transfer concepts to their local context. This session will be led by the HDMSOM and HD Leadership team who have contributed to the literature on CEME including extensive conference presentations, peer-reviewed articles, and book chapters on community-engaged medical education.