Health inequities: the need for action by schools of medicine

Abstract

We suggest that the contribution to lessening health inequity should be seen as an integral and important role of undergraduate medical education and the academic institutions that provide such programs. Five strategies aimed at increasing the commitment of medical and other undergraduate health students to work with disadvantaged groups to improve their health are described. They include student selection to increase representativeness of students and importantly, support for retention and academic success; undergraduate curriculum, both core and elective, to address inequality and provide skills necessary to implement change in a range of areas that impact on health; academic physicians modelling the above by actively working in and for disadvantaged groups; developing centres of excellence carrying out research in health inequity, particularly intervention rather than solely descriptive research and creating high status academic appointments in key designated positions addressing inequity. Schools of Medicine could be rated on their action on these criteria so that benchmarking across institutions could occur.

Building a medical workforce in Tasmania: A profile of medical student intake

“…3,7,8 WP refers to proportional inclusion of students representing the broader community, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, mature age students, ethnic and cultural groups and students with a disability. 4,[10][11][12] Australian rural medical education initiatives target 25% of commencing medical students to have a rural background. 9 These strategies have been adopted most strongly by 'socially accountable' medical schools, defined as those that 'direct their education, research and service activities towards addressing the priority health concerns of the community, region and/or nation they have a mandate to serve'.…”

“…9 These strategies have been adopted most strongly by 'socially accountable' medical schools, defined as those that 'direct their education, research and service activities towards addressing the priority health concerns of the community, region and/or nation they have a mandate to serve'. 4,[10][11][12] Australian rural medical education initiatives target 25% of commencing medical students to have a rural background. One persistent controversy that influences all rural initiatives is the definition of rurality and remoteness.…”

Developing the future Indigenous health workforce: The feasibility and impact of a student‐led placement programme in remote Indigenous communities

“…The World Health Organisation states that medical schools have an ‘obligation to direct their education, research and service activities towards addressing priority health concerns of the community, region and/or nation they have a mandate to serve’ . The value of community‐based Indigenous health placements during medical school has been widely acknowledged . A National Review into Medical Education conducted by Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand and the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association (AIDA) suggests that experience‐based clinical placements and cultural immersion are some of the most effective Indigenous health education tools for Australian medical schools .…”

“…8 The value of community-based Indigenous health placements during medical school has been widely acknowledged. [9][10][11] A National Review into Medical Education conducted by Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand and the Australian Indigenous Doctors' Association (AIDA) suggests that experience-based clinical placements and cultural immersion are some of the most effective Indigenous health education tools for Australian medical schools. 12 In practice, few Indigenous community placements are available to medical students.…”

Recruitment and selection strategies in optometric education towards addressing human resource disparities in sub-Saharan Africa

“…This success in addressing the HR disparities highlights the need for institutions to adopt a transformative approach, underpinned in social responsibility, which insists on inter-sectoral engagement on how students are recruited, educated and deployed (Celletti et al 2011). Medical education has made strides in adopting the principles of social accountability and applying these to their recruitment and selection processes (Wilson et al 2009;Rourke 2010;Curtis et al 2012;Sanson-Fisher, Williams and Outram 2008) and the issue has also been addressed in disciplines such as dentistry (Brunson et al 2010;Anderson et al 2007), nursing (Omeri and Ahern 1999) and pharmacy (Hayes 2008). However, there is a paucity of optometric education literature globally on the role of institutions in addressing eye health inequities in recruitment and selection policies and practices.…”