This pilot study explores an interprofessional, practice-based education initiative that placed students from four different professions (medicine, nursing, social work, and pharmacy) in a community health clinic ½ day per week for 8 months. The study was guided by two research questions: (1) How do clinic experiences contribute to students’ understanding of social determinants of health? (2) What factors influence the creation of an effective learning environment? To address these questions, we conducted a qualitative, ethnographic study that included participant observation, focus groups, and textual analysis. This study allowed us to explore the experiences of students and staff as they interacted in a community-based clinic setting. We found that the interprofessional, clinic-based experience improved students’ knowledge- and practice-based competencies in a variety of areas, including awareness of social determinants of health, skills in securing resources for patients with financial limitations, appreciation for health education and health promotion in clinical practice, and experience working interprofessionally. We observed that creating environments that support this kind of student learning requires time and effort on the part of the clinic staff. We discuss implications of these findings for supporting future interprofessional, practice-based health education initiatives.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.