Twelve tips for teaching social determinants of health in medicine.

BACKGROUND: There has been a recent movement towards social accountability in medical schools, which includes integrating the social, economic, and cultural determinants of health into the curriculum. Medical schools and their guiding bodies have met this challenge of educating future physicians to provide effective care to diverse populations with varying response and successes. Because these topics have not been systematically taught in most medical school curricula, strategies are needed to teach them alongside clinical sciences. AIM AND METHOD: We provide 12 tips on how to teach social determinants of health and cultural competency to undergraduate medical students. These recommendations are based on a review of the literature and our experience in developing and delivering a longitudinal course over the last five years. CONCLUSION: Medical students must be taught to think critically about the social and cultural issues impacting health, and the intersection with the basic biology and clinical skills. Teaching social determinants of health in medicine requires keeping the material concrete and applicable. Educators must engage students in active learning strategies, reflection, and focus on how to make the material relevant to the clinical care of patients.

Connecting Primary Care Providers in Free Clinics with Specialists Via Telehealth: A Pilot Program with Three Miami Clinics.

The Medical Alumni Volunteer Expert Network (MAVEN) Project (MP) in Miami, Florida piloted primary care provider (PCP)-specialist telehealth consults in three clinics for the uninsured. Preliminary findings suggest telehealth consults may improve quality of care, provider knowledge, and confidence, and may represent innovative health care delivery for the uninsured.

Increasing Awareness on Health Care Access in Florida: A Community-Based Medical-Legal Practicum Project.

PROBLEM: Service learning and experiential coursework has become a requirement for medical students and law students. Advocacy for the underinsured and uninsured is of ethical importance to both the practice of law and medicine, however engaging professional students in meaningful advocacy work with community partners can be challenging. PURPOSE: The article describes a partnership between medical and law students in a community-based service learning project to promote health care access. KEY POINTS: Law and medical students at Florida International University partnered with community members and Florida Legal Services to collect patient narratives, disseminate information on Medicaid expansion to community members, and present patient stories to state lawmakers. CONCLUSIONS: The medical and law students learned about each other's professional roles and gained skills in interviewing, and legislative and policy advocacy through this service learning project by providing legislative testimony to key stakeholders and community education on Medicaid expansion.