Conceptualising social accountability as an attribute of medical education

Abstract

Background: Health professionals need to be both person- and community oriented to improve population health. For educators to create socially accountable physicians, they must move learners from understanding social accountability as an expectation to embracing and incorporating it as an aspect of professional identity that informs medical practice.Aim: The aim of this article was to assess the degree to which medical students, preceptors and community mentors understand the concept of social accountability.Setting: The setting is the KwaZulu-Natal Province in Durban, South Africa.Methods: Using an observational design, we surveyed 332 participants, including the first- and sixth-year medical students, physician preceptors and community mentors.Results: Whilst most respondents understood social accountability as requiring an action or set of actions, it was defined by some as simply the awareness one must have about the needs of their patients, community or society at large. Some respondents defined social accountability as multi-dimensional, but these definitions were the exception, not the rule. Finally, most respondents did not identify to whom the accountable party should answer.Conclusion: Whilst the development of professional identity is seen as a process of ‘becoming’, the ability to define and understand what it means to be socially accountable is not a linear process. Assessment of this progress may start with comprehending how social accountability is understood by students when they begin their education and when they are graduating, as well as in knowing how their educators, both clinical and community, define it.

Medical educators’ perspectives on the barriers and enablers of teaching public health in the undergraduate medical schools: a systematic review

“…Institutional support is needed to create and maintain strong partnerships between medical schools, health-care organisations, and communities [ 39 , 53 , 55 ]. Often, medical educators have extensive professional networks and are leaders in their field [ 37 ].…”

“…Institutional support may be seen directly or indirectly through their policies, visions, and mission statements. For example, reviving the concept of the social accountability in medical schools may help to improve public health teaching as it reintroduces community, population, society, and the public into medical education discourse, and subsequently into the curriculum [ 43 , 53 ]. It is highly likely that when medical schools start paying more attention to improving social accountability formally by writing this into the medical school vision and mission statements, public health teaching will also benefit [ 43 , 53 ]: … medical issues are influenced by social issues so they should be integrated in learning and teaching activities, as a leading institution we should strengthen our position in the direction of social accountability … Medical educator, Uganda [ 43 ] …”

“…Formalising a university policy statement for university support towards public health education is essential [ 13 , 47 , 53 ] and seen as a strong basis for various activities related to public health teaching ranging from the medical educator recruitment process and resources distribution across subjects to the integration of public health into teaching practice [ 24 , 53–55 ]. Medical educators were more willing to allocate space for public health in their subjects when institution policy dictated that incorporating public health into the curriculum was compulsory [ 36 , 37 ].…”

“…Medical educators were more willing to allocate space for public health in their subjects when institution policy dictated that incorporating public health into the curriculum was compulsory [ 36 , 37 ]. The policy can be used to accelerate the integration of public health in teaching plans and practice, learning objectives, assessments, placements, practical sessions, as well as monitoring and evaluation of student activities and learning programmes [ 44 , 53 ].…”

We Need to Rethink on the Medical Education for Pandemic Preparedness: Lessons Learnt From COVID-19

“…Briefly, learning occurs in the community (5). If the medical schools use such approaches, implement the principles of community-based education and social accountability (6), the medical students will be much well prepared for the pandemics, working in the community and will respond to the needs of the society. Such preparation is expected to contribute to struggle with the future possible threats in a more realistic manner.…”