School of Medicine and Health Sciences Poster Presentations
Developing Community Health Providers of the Future: GW Healing Clinic Professional Development Series
Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
3-2016
Abstract
Given the rising shortage of primary care and community health physicians in the United States, medical and physician assistant students, now, more than ever, need to be exposed to community health settings and actively learn the practice of medicine within them1. The GW University School of Medicine and Health Sciences Healing Clinic, a student-run free primary care clinic based in the DC metropolitan area, involves approximately 160 student volunteers per year. Students spearhead clinic operations, provide primary care at two community-based clinical sites, and navigate patients through the health system.
With only three evening clinic shifts available to each student volunteer per semester, the GW Healing Clinic struggles to provide continuity in training and longitudinal exposure to the systems challenges of community health settings. To address the specific needs of our novice learners, student leadership developed the “Healing Clinic Professional Development Series” to enhance knowledge and skills. Given the autonomous structure of the new clinical site in Prince George’s County, MD, expectations for students’ skills were increased.
Student leaders assessed clinic services and patient demographics to identify focus areas for the professional development series. First, student volunteers received blood draw training to provide lab services in low-resource settings. In partnership with the medical Spanish language group, SALUD, students received a workshop on Hispanic/Latino/Immigrant health and appropriate approaches to documentation status in clinical settings. Students received a session on the safety net health system and specialty health care access points in Prince George’s County, MD, a highly medically underserved population in the DC area2. In addition, workshops on the patient-centered medical home model and LGBTQ Youth Health, topics seldom included in medical school curricula, were conducted.
Of 160 annual volunteers, 87 students attended at least one professional development session with 52 students attending more than 2 sessions over the Fall 2015 semester. Student leadership will develop session evaluations to determine the immediate and long-term effectiveness of the series. Future work must evaluate how students are applying these skills during their Healing Clinic shifts, clerkship years, and career paths.
Creative Commons License
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Open Access
1
Developing Community Health Providers of the Future: GW Healing Clinic Professional Development Series
Given the rising shortage of primary care and community health physicians in the United States, medical and physician assistant students, now, more than ever, need to be exposed to community health settings and actively learn the practice of medicine within them1. The GW University School of Medicine and Health Sciences Healing Clinic, a student-run free primary care clinic based in the DC metropolitan area, involves approximately 160 student volunteers per year. Students spearhead clinic operations, provide primary care at two community-based clinical sites, and navigate patients through the health system.
With only three evening clinic shifts available to each student volunteer per semester, the GW Healing Clinic struggles to provide continuity in training and longitudinal exposure to the systems challenges of community health settings. To address the specific needs of our novice learners, student leadership developed the “Healing Clinic Professional Development Series” to enhance knowledge and skills. Given the autonomous structure of the new clinical site in Prince George’s County, MD, expectations for students’ skills were increased.
Student leaders assessed clinic services and patient demographics to identify focus areas for the professional development series. First, student volunteers received blood draw training to provide lab services in low-resource settings. In partnership with the medical Spanish language group, SALUD, students received a workshop on Hispanic/Latino/Immigrant health and appropriate approaches to documentation status in clinical settings. Students received a session on the safety net health system and specialty health care access points in Prince George’s County, MD, a highly medically underserved population in the DC area2. In addition, workshops on the patient-centered medical home model and LGBTQ Youth Health, topics seldom included in medical school curricula, were conducted.
Of 160 annual volunteers, 87 students attended at least one professional development session with 52 students attending more than 2 sessions over the Fall 2015 semester. Student leadership will develop session evaluations to determine the immediate and long-term effectiveness of the series. Future work must evaluate how students are applying these skills during their Healing Clinic shifts, clerkship years, and career paths.
Comments
Presented at: GW Research Days 2016