Addressing the health advocate role in medical education

Abstract

The health advocate role is an essential and underappreciated component of the CanMEDs competency framework. It is tied to the concept of social accountability and its application to medical schools for preparing future physicians who will work to ensure an equitable healthcare system. Student involvement in health advocacy throughout medical school can inspire a long-term commitment to address health disparities. The Social Medicine Network (SMN) provides an online platform for medical trainees to seek opportunities to address health disparities, with the goal of bridging the gap between the social determinants of health and clinical medicine. This online platform provides a list of health advocacy related opportunities for addressing issues that impede health equity, whether through research, community engagement, or clinical care. First implemented at the University of British Columbia, the SMN has since expanded to other medical schools across Canada. At the University of Ottawa, the SMN is being used to augment didactic teachings of health advocacy and social accountability. This article reports on the development and application of the SMN as a resource for medical trainees seeking meaningful and actionable opportunities to enact their role as health advocates.

Are the doctors of the future ready to support breastfeeding? A cross-sectional study in the UK

“…Medical school builds the foundation for all doctors' clinical practice and is a perfect opportunity to educate future clinicians with the essential skills and knowledge to support their patients [15,16]. Furthermore, it could be argued that regardless of which specialty pathway the medical graduate follows, they are likely to have contact with breastfeeding patients during their hospital and community training.…”

Professional identity formation within longitudinal integrated clerkships: A scoping review

“…19 Illuminating this mechanism is crucial as it stands to generate transferrable findings as to 'what works' about the LIC model. Given ongoing issues with health care workforce recruitment and retention, 20,21 decline of empathy during medical school, 22 faculty burnout, 23 and difficulties engaging some students in health advocacy, 24 such transferrable findings would serve to contribute to many areas of contemporary discourse across the spectrum of health professions education.…”

Comparison of the BOPPPS Model and Traditional Instructional Approaches in Thoracic Surgery Teaching

“…For undergraduate interns, their theoretical courses are mainly learned through the traditional instructional approach. It is di cult to mobilize students' enthusiasm by using the traditional instructional approach alone in clinical practice [7]. Students' theoretical knowledge is also relatively insu cient, so it is challenging for them to accept teachers' content within a limited time [8].Combined with the actual clinical practice situation in thoracic surgery, the traditional instructional approach is relatively simple, lacks innovation, cannot stimulate interns' enthusiasm.…”