Engaging public health students in conversations about differences, social determinants of health, & ‘learning to walk in others' shoes'

This study provided a snapshot of first-year full-time public health students' (N=70) assessment of self-knowledge, perceptions regarding societal inequities, and suggested strategies to advance positive change in community health. In 2009, students in a community assessment course requiring a 120-hour community- based practicum responded to a two-part written assignment after viewing Parts One and Two of the documentary, Unnatural Causes. The nature of the documentary and written assignment, as well as the safe learning environment created by instruction combining Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and lectures allowed students to take risks in sharing: 1) reflections identifying factors influencing their selection of a public health career; 2) personal examinations and awareness of differences in health status across populations as related to the social determinants of health; and 3) proposals for advancing critically needed public health interventions. Poignant conversations examining socioeconomic status and class, gender, race, ethnicity, and the precursor conditions for health and well-being provided important teachable moments including the enhancement of students': a) self knowledge; b) ability examining how these factors affect health status/outcomes; c) capacity relating to peers within a large group; and d) acknowledgment that ‘learning to walk in others' shoes' is essential for effective community-based public health. Reflections noted the need to also understand the role of: a) privilege, b) institutional racism, c) structural change versus personal change, d) community responsibility versus individual responsibility; and e) factors that facilitate students' ability working with different populations, or ‘walking in another person's shoes' in the context of community-based public health practice.