Vaccine Hesitancy Counseling—an Educational Intervention to Teach a Critical Skill to Preclinical Medical Students

Abstract

Introduction There has been a recent rise in public perception that vaccines are unsafe, fostering vaccine hesitancy (VH). Few interventions have focused on teaching medical students' communication skills for counseling vaccine-hesitant patients. Methods Our educational intervention, designed for medical students, involved a self-study module followed by an interactive session on VH. Students practiced counseling vaccine-hesitant standardized patients (SPs). Faculty and SPs assessed student counseling skills. Students completed pre-and post-intervention surveys to assess attitudes and preparedness to counsel VH patients. Results Students showed a better ability to talk to parents about Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine concerns and Measles Mumps Rubella (MMR)/autism-related issues than to address patients' concerns related to the Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV) vaccine. Students' surveys pre-and post-intervention revealed significant improvement in their vaccination knowledge and comfort with counseling vaccine-hesitant patients. Student counseling skills as part of an Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE) showed 73% of students asked about immunization and elicited SP concerns, but only 36% counseled appropriately. Conclusions In the face of emerging VH, physicians play a critical role in advising and influencing vaccination decisions. Therefore, it is a core responsibility of medical educators to train medical students on recommending vaccinations and responding effectively to vaccine-hesitant parents and patients. Our multifaceted interactive session provided preclinical students with knowledge and skills to improve communication skills with VH patients and parents and the need for ongoing practice of these VH counseling skills.

Qualitative analysis of reflective writing examines medical student learning about vaccine hesitancy

“…study, can assist educators in identifying missing educational frameworks for particular patient care scenarios such as vaccine hesitancy. While efforts are growing to incorporate vaccine hesitancy information into medical curricula, especially now, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (Kelekar et al, 2022;Onello et al, 2020;Real et al, 2017;Schnaith et al, 2018), there is little focus on recommending or evaluating these efforts on a large scale in the U.S. However, recent efforts to establish innovative curriculum of this kind have shown it to be feasible and effective for improving medical student preparedness in addressing vaccine hesitancy (Kelekar et al, 2022;Onello et al, 2020;Real et al, 2017;Schnaith et al, 2018).…”

“…While efforts are growing to incorporate vaccine hesitancy information into medical curricula, especially now, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (Kelekar et al, 2022;Onello et al, 2020;Real et al, 2017;Schnaith et al, 2018), there is little focus on recommending or evaluating these efforts on a large scale in the U.S. However, recent efforts to establish innovative curriculum of this kind have shown it to be feasible and effective for improving medical student preparedness in addressing vaccine hesitancy (Kelekar et al, 2022;Onello et al, 2020;Real et al, 2017;Schnaith et al, 2018). The curriculum structure assessed in this study may offer a strong approach to teach students valuable lessons related to vaccine hesitancy and evaluate existing progress in this area.…”

Teaching undergraduate medical students how to communicate with vaccine-hesitant patients: A scoping review

“…In four studies (Afonso et al, 2014;Kelekar et al, 2022;Lepiller et al, 2020;Onello et al, 2020), the educational interventions were mandatory, with the remaining interventions (Coleman & Lehman, 2017;Koski et al, 2018;Schnaith et al, 2018) voluntary. Most studies (Afonso et al, 2014;Coleman & Lehman, 2017;Kelekar et al, 2022;Koski et al, 2018;Lepiller et al, 2020;Onello et al, 2020) were directed at a single student year level, though this varied from first-year to third-year medical students. Schnaith and colleagues (2018) invited medical students of all year levels, with the majority of participants being preclinical (63%).…”

“…Similarly, Lepiller et al (2020) integrated teaching into an 8-month program of health promotion learning. The remaining study (Kelekar et al, 2022) did not report the duration or frequency of the teaching intervention.…”

Ten Actions to Counteract Vaccine Hesitancy Suggested by the Italian Society of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine, and Public Health

“…A good strategy would be to dedicate a specific course within the university curriculum of health professionals. The Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine organized a multifaceted interactive session with the aim of providing preclinical students with knowledge and skills to improve communication with VH patients and parents and the need for ongoing practice with respect to these VH counseling skills [ 27 ].…”