Kohar Jones

Promoting Sustainable Community Service in the 4th Year of Medical School: A Longitudinal Service-Learning Elective

Background: To address the countrys most pressing healthcare needs, medical students must choose careers in primary care and commit to working with underserved populations. Involvement in student service organizations has been shown to strengthen leadership, empathy, and commitment to underserved health and may lead students to pursue careers in primary care. Description: In 2010, the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine developed a novel 1-year longitudinal service-learning elective called SERVE (Service, Education, Reflection, Volunteerism Elective). Students earned elective credit for completing three course requirements: 10 service sessions, monthly reflections, and a service-learning project. Evaluation: One third of the class enrolled in the course (33/99), 25 students completed the course, and 20 completed the final evaluation. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the final evaluations demonstrated high satisfaction with the course, and appreciation of the opportunity to volunteer, teach, and develop service projects. SERVE students reported a strong commitment to continuing community service after graduation, with 100% planning to continue volunteering and 70% strongly agreeing with the statement that they would practice in an underserved community in the future. This commitment was higher than that expressed by the graduating class of 2012 (34%) and higher compared to a national average (30.9%). Conclusions: SERVE is a unique 1-year course that reengages 4th-year medical students in service to their communities in a structured educational environment. SERVE students report that the course has increased their involvement in the community, supported their growth into a teaching role, and enhanced continuity within student-run free clinics. Future directions include assessing the impact of SERVE students on the experience of preclinical medical students in student-run free clinics; community response to SERVE projects; and the impact of SERVE on volunteerism, primary care specialty choice, and future practice in underserved communities for class participants during their medical careers.

Student-run free clinics and complementary curricula.

enhance or detract from the learning in PBL tutorials? We solicited 10 volunteer tutors (out of 36) within a 4-week GI system block in the second year of our medical school program, who would allow their students (8 per tutor) to bring an electronic device of their choice into their tutorial sessions. Up to this point, devices were disallowed and only a medical dictionary was used in the tutorial sessions. At the completion of the block, the participating students and tutors were invited to complete an electronic online survey including a Likert questionnaire as well as open-ended questions reflecting their experience during the interventions. Of the respondents, fifty-four different types of devices were reported being used in the tutorial sessions. Tablets (35%) and smart phones (46%) were the most popular type of device used by students and tutors with laptops making up a small percentage of use (16%). Five percent of them felt that the devices did not improve PBL, 39% were neutral, and 55% either agreed or strongly agreed that the devices improved PBL. Ten percent of the students and tutors felt that the devices did adversely affect group dynamics, 17% were neutral, and 74% felt that the devices did not interfere with group dynamics. Five percent of those responding felt it did not improve accuracy. Sixteen percent were neutral, and 80% felt that it did improve accuracy. Overall, 89% were in favor of recommending while 11% were not. In this pilot study, we found that PBL tutors and students overwhelmingly supported allowing the use of electronic devices into the PBL tutorials. This has led to a policy change, and devices are encouraged, but individual usage determined by group agreement only.