Required Service Learning for Medical Students: Program Description and Student Response

Abstract

Background: Medical schools are in the process of examining their roles in training and preparing medical students for the changing world of health care. Many institutions are searching for ways to help promote positive relations between medical schools and the communities they serve. A form of experiential pedagogy called service learning is one way to accomplish such goals. Description: Tulane University School of Medicine implemented a required 20 hr of service learning for freshman medical students as part of an interdisciplinary longitudinal course, Foundations in Medicine. Evaluation: Community service hours and projects performed were tabulated over 3 years. A qualitative description of student feedback was undertaken.Conclusion: The program demonstrates that requiring service learning is acceptable to students, the medical school, and the community. The results show that required service learning has at least a short-term beneficial impact on students.

Student‐Run Health Clinic: Novel Arena to Educate Medical Students on Systems‐Based Practice

“…Valid components include self-reflection activities and structured instruction and evaluation with clear goals and objectives that support the SRC as fostering community-clinic partnerships and developing students as advocates for vulnerable populations. 56,57 Broad outcomes that could be examined are changes in medical student knowledge and understanding of the landscape of healthcare and the implications for the uninsured; changes in the attitudes toward and beliefs about public service and access to healthcare; the evolution of understanding of the need for community partnerships in the provision of healthcare; and the implications of medical student involvement in an SRC to future care for the indigent.…”

Training socially responsive health care graduates: Is service learning an effective educational approach?

“…Key issues identified and reported in a number of studies (e.g. Burrows et al, 1999;Elam et al, 2003;Williams & Reeves, 2004;Bentley & Ellison, 2005;Amerson, 2010;McMenamin et al, 2010;Green et al, 2011;Casey & Murphy, 2008;Groh et al, 2011;Long et al, 2011;Zucchero, 2011) include: (i) self-awareness, (ii) communication skills, (iii) leadership skills, (iv) capacity to accept and tolerate diversity, (iv) cultural competence, and (vi) capacity to connect and build relationships with others.…”

“…people who are homeless, people with HIV, people experiencing poverty and health inequities, etc. (Burrows et al, 1999;Elam et al, 2003;Bentley & Ellison, 2005;Casey & Murphy, 2008;Amerson, 2010;Horowitz et al, 2010;McMenamin et al, 2010;Green et al, 2011;Liang En et al, 2011b;Mitschke & Petrovich, 2011;Reading & Padgett, 2011;Schindler, 2011). Working in partnership with the "different other" appeared to help students develop a deeper appreciation of the vulnerabilities that marginalized segments of the population experience and nurture a purposeful sense of social responsibility.…”

“…SL projects are designed, implemented and evaluated collaboratively with the intent of applying students' theory to practice while simultaneously targeting community identified needs. A number of studies (Burrows et al, 1999;Peterson & Schaffer, 1999;Beling, 2003;Bentley & Ellison, 2005;Goldberg et al, 2006;Johnson, 2007;Neill et al, 2007;Casey & Murphy, 2008;Kearney, 2008;Dauenhauer et al, 2010;Liang En et al, 2011b;Long et al, 2011;Pakulski, 2011;Reading & Padgett, 2011;Vogt et al, 2011;Zucchero, 2011) found that students gained a deeper understanding and application of knowledge through SL projects and experiences.…”

“…Many studies identified the need for long-term follow-up (e.g. Green et al, 2011;Long et al, 2011;Liang En et al, 2011a;Zucchero, 2011); however, only a minority (Burrows et al, 1999;Leung et al, 2011) described outcomes over time. This gap creates uncertainty about the long term effect and effectiveness of SL, another key focus for future research.…”