141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

277296
Evaluating the efficacy of public health and community medicine programs at the university of Texas southwestern medical school

Monday, November 4, 2013

Neil Murthy, BA , Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA
Bhavini Patel, BSc , Department of Family Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, TX
Nora Gimpel, MD , Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX
Patti Pagels, MPAS, PA-C , Department of Family Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, TX
Sunzida Sharmin, MBBS, MPH , Department of Family Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, TX
Introduction: Time devoted to public health education has been decreasing in medical school curricula. In 2000, the CDC and the AAMC established the cooperative agreement calling for increased “collaboration between academic medicine and public health.” In 2005, UT Southwestern established the Community Action Research Track (CART) program to address public health and community medicine. The specific aims of this study were to 1) evaluate the process and impact of the CART program; and 2) assess the student body's interest in expanding public health education and community engagement.

Methods: This cross-sectional study analyzed interest in public health and community engagement among 690 medical students and among 35 CART students using online surveys.

Results: Of the 690 students, 292 responded (response rate 42%). Fifty percent of all students were interested in an expanded program that incorporates public health, prevention, and community engagement in the medical school curriculum. Of the 35 enrolled in the CART program, 15 responded (response rate 43%). Although 60% of CART students were satisfied with the program, the majority of the weaknesses identified with the program were attributed to a lack of sustainable funding.

Discussion: Students are interested in incorporating public health and community medicine into the medical school curriculum. Recommendations include establishing an inter-professional collaboration between the UT Southwestern Medical School, the Dallas County Public Health Department, and the UT School of Public Health. Other recommendations include expanding the CART program by integrating core principles of public health and prevention, community based participatory research, and community service learning.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Other professions or practice related to public health
Public health or related education
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the role of public health education in medical school, assess the barriers and facilitators for incorporating public health education in medical school, and identify ways to improve public health education in medical school.

Keywords: Education, Curricula

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the one of the primary students who conducted this study.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.