Population Health in the Medical School Curriculum: a Look Across the Country

Morse, R.; Smith, Abigail R.; Fitzgerald-Wolff, Sharon; Stoltzfus, Ky

doi:10.1007/s40670-020-01083-z

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Also, a formal agreement must exist between the medical school and the local public health authority, with documentation required for the accreditation of the medical school and recognition of the programme 23,24 . In the United States, there is no similar requirement, and population health curricula vary according to school size and funding, even while most medical schools have come to recognise the importance of population health 25 …”

Section: Quality Assurance Strategies and Their Tensionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quality assurance in health professions education: Role of accreditation and licensure

Amaral

Norcini

2022

Medical Education

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Objective: The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the major quality assurance strategies, accreditation and licensure, in health professions education. It explores the nature of these regulatory processes using Brazil and the United States as examples because these large systems are at different ends of the developmental continuum. For each, it describes the tensions that arise, offers a critical synthesis of the evidence and maps out future directions.Results: Given wide variability among operating medical schools in curricular design, length of study, resources and facilities for clinical training and supervision, the nature of regulatory bodies varies considerably. Nonetheless, they share tensions related purpose and process including quality assurance versus quality improvement, outcomes versus process and continuous versus episodic evaluations and assessments. Clear evidence of effectiveness, especially for accreditation, is scarce and difficult to obtain, particularly as it relates to health outcomes.Conclusions: Regulatory processes need to be built around clear definitions of the goals for each stage of professional development, the current movement towards competency-based education and the variable durations of medical education. These changes must motivate revisions in the content and process of programmes for accreditation and licensure, complimentary efforts towards quality of care, and stimulate a significant research effort.

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Section: Quality Assurance Strategies and Their Tensionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…23,24 In the United States, there is no similar requirement, and population health curricula vary according to school size and funding, even while most medical schools have come to recognise the importance of population health. 25…”

Section: Standards and Processes For Accreditationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality assurance in health professions education: Role of accreditation and licensure

Amaral

Norcini

2022

Medical Education

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“…Moreover, this project has only demonstrated efficacy at 1 private medical school situated on a medical center campus with an existent school of public health, possibly limiting its generalizability to other contexts where the student population and academic context may differ, as prior research has shown that there are differences in the delivery of public health content by size of school and by private/ public funding structure. 12 Baseline scores for many of the tested domains were relatively high, possibly indicating the student body had preexisting notions of public health that may not be the same as those for students at other institutions. Further, this curricular change covered a limited scope of public health topics and only applied to the preclerkship curriculum at the medical school, a single phase of undergraduate medical training where the importance and inclusion of public health could be reinforced.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Despite the importance of incorporating more population-focused perspectives into medical training, many medical schools still lack robust education around such content, citing various challenges to integrating public health into their medical curricula. 12,13 Frequently reported barriers occur at the level of basic science or clinical faculty, who often feel inadequately prepared to champion curricular changes without more direct experience themselves. Institutional inertia often leads to minimal funding to support faculty in generating these changes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementing Public Health Modules as an Approach to Improve Knowledge and Attitudes of Medical Students: A Student-Led, Multiyear Study

Dunleavy,

Edelman,

Wimer

et al. 2024

Acad Med

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Purpose Public health is a necessary focus of modern medical education. However, while numerous studies demonstrate benefits of public health education during medical school among self-selected students (i.e., those interested in public health), there are few educational models shown to be effective across the general medical student population. This study examined the effect of a multiyear, case-based, longitudinal online public health curriculum required for all medical students at an urban, research-focused U.S. medical school. Method The authors created 11 short public health modules to supplement a year-long, organ-based preclerkship course at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Beginning in 2020, all students were required to complete these modules, with repeated surveys to assess changes in attitudes and knowledge of public health over time. The authors compared responses for these domains before and after each module, across multiple time points throughout the year, and cross-sectionally to a 2019 cohort of students who were not provided the modules. Results Across 3 cohorts, 405 of 420 (96.4%) students provided responses and were included in subsequent analyses. After completing the modules, students reported perceiving a greater importance of public health to nearly every medical specialty (P < .001), more positive attitudes toward public health broadly (P < .001), and increased knowledge of public health content (P < .001). These findings were consistent across longitudinal analysis of students throughout the year-long course and when compared to the cohort who did not complete the modules. Conclusions Case-based, interactive, and longitudinal public health content can be effectively integrated into the required undergraduate medical education curriculum to improve all medical students’ knowledge and perceptions of public health. Incorporating evidence-based public health education into medical training may help future physicians to better address the needs of the communities and populations in which they practice.

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“…In recent studies, authors have described the rise of department-level population health initiatives at AHCs in the US 6 and the presence of population health in most medical school curricula. 7 In addition to these initiatives, medical educators have published educational materials in MedEdPORTAL addressing population health topics. For example, there are several educational resources available that focus on population health through the lens of a specific event or condition, including pandemics, 8 HIV, 9 and community nutrition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population Health at the Academic Health Center: An Interactive, Multipart, Case-Based Session for Executives, Faculty, and Administrators

et al. 2022

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Introduction: Academic health centers (AHCs) play critical roles in population health by providing health care, conducting population health research, and providing population health training and education. This publication describes an interactive, multipart, case-based session targeted at AHC executives, faculty, and administrators about population health initiatives at AHCs and how the AHC structure can be leveraged to promote population health. Methods: This 90-minute virtual session was conducted during the Association of Academic Health Centers' 2020 annual meeting. The session opened with 5-minute, Ignite-style presentations showcasing population health innovations. Next, in small groups, participants discussed a case introducing a fictional AHC charged with assisting its local government's population health efforts. Participants self-selected into one of four small groups (analytics, education and training, community engagement, and implementation) and were provided additional case content and tailored prompts. In the large group, participants debriefed their discussions. Participants completed a postsession survey. Results: Forty-six individuals from 31 AHCs participated. Eighteen participants completed the survey. Sixteen respondents (89%) agreed the session was valuable and provided ideas for implementation at their AHC. Fifteen participants (83%) indicated that they planned to follow up with their colleagues regarding how to leverage the AHC structure to improve population health. Discussion: This session provides an interactive forum to discuss population health in the context of an AHC and examine how its structure can facilitate population health. While offered at a conference, the session can also be implemented at a single AHC to foster local understanding of population health and inform future initiatives.

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Population Health in the Medical School Curriculum: a Look Across the Country

Cited by 5 publications

References 28 publications

Quality assurance in health professions education: Role of accreditation and licensure

Quality assurance in health professions education: Role of accreditation and licensure

Implementing Public Health Modules as an Approach to Improve Knowledge and Attitudes of Medical Students: A Student-Led, Multiyear Study

Population Health at the Academic Health Center: An Interactive, Multipart, Case-Based Session for Executives, Faculty, and Administrators

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