SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-A Novel Social Determinants of Health Curriculum for Medical Students

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A novel social determinants of health (SDoH) curriculum was developed for internal medicine clerkship medical students at Johns Hopkins to improve clinical reasoning by using contextual problem representations (CPR). The curriculum used a case-based didactic session focused on integrating SDoH into history-taking, differential diagnosis, documentation, and care planning. Students also applied these skills in standardized patient encounters, both prospectively with a novel case and retrospectively with prior cases containing SDoH content.<br /><br />Seventy-two medical students participated in the clerkship. Of these, 45 completed the pre-survey, 20 completed the post-survey, 17 completed both, and 8 declined use of their survey data. Survey results showed strong perceived effectiveness: all responding students rated the curriculum as effective in teaching the impact of SDoH on clinical reasoning, using CPR, identifying resources, and overall effectiveness. Most students also reported increased confidence in asking about SDoH, addressing SDoH, collaborating with case management/social work, using CPR, and changing their clinical practice.<br /><br />Pre- and post-survey comparisons showed significant gains in confidence across all measured skills. For example, confidence in applying clinical reasoning to history and physical exams increased from 42.2% to 95.0%, eliciting SDoH information from 40.0% to 95.0%, incorporating SDoH into a plan from 24.4% to 95.0%, and collaborating with interprofessional teams from 44.4% to 90.0% (all p=0.001).<br /><br />Overall, preliminary findings suggest the curriculum was well received and improved student confidence in integrating SDoH into clinical reasoning. Future work will evaluate higher-level educational outcomes using standardized patient performance data.

Asset Subtitle

Emily Murphy

Meta Tag

Author List Amanda Bertram, Ashwini Niranjan-Azadi, Danelle Cayea, Emily Murphy

Category Innovations

Concept Social Determinants of Health

Concept Clinical Reasoning

Concept Contextual Problem Representation

Concept Patient Care

Concept Healthcare Barrier

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Presenting Author Emily Murphy

Track Education

Keywords

social determinants of health

SDoH curriculum

internal medicine clerkship

clinical reasoning

contextual problem representations

case-based learning

standardized patient encounters

history-taking

interprofessional collaboration

medical student confidence

Social Determinants of Health

Clinical Reasoning

Contextual Problem Representation

Patient Care

Healthcare Barrier