Wong Christopher K, Berens Pauline M, Katta Manvitha V, Lie Margaret, Fall Dylan, Shah Alay, Deen Sidra, Joshi Manasi, Keenahan Laura, Appelbaum Nital, Huynh Phuong B, Poythress Edward L
School of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Division of Evaluation, Assessment, and Research, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Med Teach. 2022 May;44(5):541-545. doi: 10.1080/0142159X.2021.2005242. Epub 2021 Nov 22.
Service learning consists of service activities that respond to community-identified concerns, active learning about the population being served, and self-reflecting on the experience. The Service Learning Program (SLP) is a novel, student-led, longitudinal volunteering experience designed to address social determinants of health (SDOH) education in the undergraduate medical school curriculum. In this program, medical students complete requirements in three domains of service, education, and self-reflection over the span of one academic year.
Participating students are sent surveys prior to and after a year of participation in SLP, which are aimed to measure changes in their perceived knowledge, attitudes, and skills in multiple domains related to service learning and social determinants of health.
Over the course of the 2019-2020 year, 110 students who participated in SLP responded to both pre- and post-surveys. These students reported significant improvements in their confidence in various knowledge and skills related to SDOH, such as identifying vulnerable populations and assessing community needs. They also were more likely to report that learning about social determinants of health was 'very important' after participating the program.
Medical students participating in a longitudinal service learning program focused on SDOH can acquire knowledge and skills that will empower them to understand, advocate, and care for underserved populations as future physicians. This program provides a model for integrating service learning into undergraduate medical education.
服务学习包括回应社区确定的关切问题的服务活动、对所服务人群的主动学习以及对经历的自我反思。服务学习项目（SLP）是一种新颖的、由学生主导的纵向志愿经历，旨在解决本科医学院课程中的健康社会决定因素（SDOH）教育问题。在该项目中，医学生在一学年的时间里完成服务、教育和自我反思三个领域的要求。
参与项目的学生在参与SLP一年前后会收到调查问卷，旨在衡量他们在与服务学习和健康社会决定因素相关的多个领域中感知到的知识、态度和技能的变化。
在2019 - 2020学年期间，110名参与SLP的学生对前后两次调查都做出了回应。这些学生报告说，他们在与SDOH相关的各种知识和技能方面的信心有了显著提高，比如识别弱势群体和评估社区需求。他们也更有可能报告说，参与该项目后，了解健康社会决定因素“非常重要”。
参与专注于SDOH的纵向服务学习项目的医学生可以获得知识和技能，这将使他们作为未来的医生有能力理解、倡导并关爱服务不足的人群。该项目为将服务学习融入本科医学教育提供了一个模式。
