Addressing social risk factors in the inpatient setting: Initial findings from a screening and referral pilot at an urban safety-net academic medical center in Virginia, USA.

Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) impact health outcomes; thus, a pilot to screen for important SDOH domains (food, housing, and transportation) and address social needs in hospitalized patients was implemented in an urban safety-net academic medical center. This study describes the pilot implementation and examines patient characteristics associated with SDOH-related needs. An internal medicine unit was designated as a pilot site. Outreach workers approached eligible patients (n = 1,135) to complete the SDOH screening survey at time of admission with 54% (n = 615) completing the survey between May 2019 and July 2020. Data from patient screening survey and electronic health records were linked to allow for examination of associations between SDOH needs for food, housing, and transportation and various demographic and clinical characteristics of patients in multivariate logistic regression models. Of 615 screened patients, 45% screened positive for any need. Of 275 patients with needs, 33% reported needs in 2, and 34% - in 3 domains. Medicaid beneficiaries were more likely than patients with private health insurance to screen positive for 2 and 3 needs; Black patients were more likely than White patients to screen positive for 1 and 3 needs; Patients with no designated primary care physician status screened positive for 1 need; Patients with a history of substance use disorder screened positive for all 3 needs. SDOH screening assisted in addressing social risk factors of inpatients, informed their discharge plans and linkage to community resources. SDOH screening demonstrated significant correlations of positive screens with race/ethnicity, insurance type, and certain clinical characteristics.

Does the AAMC's Definition of "Underrepresented in Medicine" Promote Justice and Inclusivity?

In 2003, the Association of American Medical Colleges reframed the concept underrepresented minorities as underrepresented in medicine (URiM), which defines representation in medicine relative to representation in the US population. Schools are permitted to construct URiM definitions, suggesting the importance of regarding them as fluid works in progress as US demographics evolve. Where medical school admissions processes consider applicants' backgrounds and experiences of identity minoritization to be valuable, progress toward inclusive representation has been made. This article considers whether school-based URiM definitions are ethically sufficient and canvasses possible next steps in realizing equitable representation in medical education.

Interprofessional education in an enrichment programme for prospective health sciences students.

Effective and meaningful interprofessional education opportunities for prospective health sciences students are important to prepare students for the work environment they will encounter after training. This article briefly describes the Summer Academic Enrichment Program, a programme for students pursuing entry to dentistry, medicine, pharmacy, and physical therapy schools. The programme evaluation includes investigation of the programme's effectiveness to impact attitudes towards interprofessional teams and collaboration. The Attitudes Toward Health Care Teams Scale and the Revised Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale were administered at the beginning and the end of the programme. Statistical analysis of pre-assessment subscale scores indicated that pre-pharmacy students reported significantly more positive attitudes towards team value than pre-dental students at the beginning of the programme, with post-assessment results indicating that these differences had been eliminated. Additionally, all students demonstrated significantly more positive attitudes towards interprofessional teams during the post-assessment.