How we incorporated service learning into a medical student rural clinical training experience

Teaching Social Determinants of Health in Nursing Programs: An Integrative Review of Strategies and Effectiveness

BACKGROUND

Incorporating social determinants of health (SDoH) into clinical decision-making can clarify disease causes, enhance care planning, and improve health outcomes. Nurse educators should know which strategies are most effective for teaching SDoH in bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) programs.

OBJECTIVE

This integrative review synthesizes the literature on familiarizing BSN students with SDoH and identifies effective teaching interventions for SDoH in these programs.

METHODS

The researchers searched CINAHL, PubMed, Web of Science, and ERIC databases, and 21 articles met the inclusion criteria. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis) guidelines were followed for reporting.

RESULTS

The curriculum method, service learning, and international outreach experiences were frequently used teaching strategies. Qualitative evaluation was used to evaluate student outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Nurse educators should be mindful of these strategies. Interdisciplinary teamwork can bolster students' understanding of disadvantaged populations while integrating SDoH in nursing curricula. Quantitative evaluations of learning outcomes are needed to determine teaching effectiveness.

Teaching the affective domain in community-based medical education: A scoping review

Background: The affective domain is one of the essential areas in the assessment of the learning outcomes of medical students, apart from the cognitive and psychomotor domains. Community-based medical education (CBME) is a common instructional program for medical students in learning about these domains. However, preceptors and researchers pay less attention to the affective domain as compared to the other two learning domains.Aim: To describe the state of the literature on teaching the affective domain through CBME and to develop an initial model for instructional purposes.Methods: A scoping review of the literature was conducted. Out of the 971 references initially retrieved, 22 published references were selected. Relevant data from these references were extracted and analyzed through thematic analysis.Results and Conclusion: The various affective outcomes of CBME in the literature are commonly taught through role modelling and mentoring, providing opportunity to apply knowledge, and immersing in local organizations and communities. However, these teaching strategies will be optimized through a structured and rigorous process of reflection. Reflection is central to the learning experience of medical students, especially that affective outcomes are commonly less apparent. The findings of this review resulted to a proposed initial model in teaching the affective domain in CBME.

Health Disparities Past the Classroom: The Impact of Frontier Medicine on Students

In 2000, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education issued a standard for cultural competence for medical students, stating the necessity of understanding different belief systems and cultures and how biases can affect health care and perpetuate health disparities. While many programs travel overseas to address this standard, our study evaluated an in-state, study-away, service-learning mission trip program’s efficacy of improving cultural competence and awareness of health disparities, as well as facilitating the ease of participation for students. Our overall goal was to provide a rich field opportunity in our own backyard that would allow students to visit a foreign environment without leaving the country, simultaneously eliminating the financial burden that comes with international travel and to expose the students to health disparities through partnership with local community centers and clinics present in the frontier region of southwest Texas (2016 - 2018). Post-trip assessments revealed that students were surprised by the disparities found within the state and gained a better understanding of community need. Subsequently, students revealed the desire to pursue careers that administer care to underserved populations and to improve their Spanish language skills. We concluded that this program increased awareness of cultural competency comparable to study-abroad programs. Post-trip evaluations were helpful in assessing change and impact on the students' cultural and health disparities awareness.

Medical students' perceptions about the added educational value of student-run HIV/AIDS educational campaigns in the Dominican Republic

Objective

This purpose of this report was to examine the perceptions of medical students about the strengths, limitations, and recommendations for improvement of the first known student-run HIV/AIDS educational campaigns in the Dominican Republic (DR), as they relate to the added value applied to their educational training.

Methods

A retrospective review was conducted on evaluation reports completed by five medical students who coordinated the implementation of three annual HIV/AIDS educational campaigns in five DR communities, between 2012 and 2014. Thematic analysis was used to identify emerging themes related to perceived strengths, limitations, and recommendations for improvement and develop an acronym related to program strengths as value added to medical education.

Results

Students highlighted that program strengths were the use of social media technology to facilitate communication and culture-based creativity to capture the attention of target audiences; and limitations were inadequate financial support and HIV-related cultural stigma, due to lack of disease knowledge and awareness or perceived contrasts between the federal system and faith-based community. Recommendations for program improvement, such as comprehensive event preparation and knowing the target audience, were described as key to maximizing the delivery of health messages.

Conclusions

Our results highlighted that medical students gained expertise in the effective use of social media technology, culture-based creativity, and team synergy to disseminate HIV/AIDS health information across five DR communities. Students participated in these extracurricular community health campaigns, strengthening skills in communication, health advocacy, and leadership for their medical training. They served as human resources for health and can pave the way as future clinicians and indispensable health educators in local and national health collaborations.