142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

309572
Integrating Policy and Advocacy in Medical Education

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014 : 8:50 AM - 9:10 AM

Joanna Michel, PhD in Medical Ethnobotany , Community Health Sciences, University of Illinois School of Public Health, Chicago, IL
Jorge Girotti, PhD , College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Gary Loy, MD , Obstetrics and Gynecology/Fetal Ultrasound, Advocate Healthcare, Chicago, IL
Katrina Stumbras, MPH student , Urban Medicine Program, UIC College of Medicine, Chicago, IL
Brandon Sandine, Public health student , Urban Medicine Program, UIC College of Medicine, Chicago, IL
The Urban Medicine Program at University of Illinois at Chicago’s medical school is a special curricular program that aims to prepare physician-leaders to serve underserved urban communities. The program accomplishes this through public health related seminars and a four-year community-based project. During their final year students participate in 2-week policy and advocacy forum that asks them to look beyond their local efforts towards ways to become involved in advocacy efforts and health policy change.

During the first week of the forum students are introduced to skills and tools associated with policy and advocacy, and are asked to apply them towards the development of a policy agenda related to their community site.  Student teams then identify a local or national coalition to support their initiative, and develop a policy tool (e.g. fact sheet) to communicate their agenda.

Each day of the second week highlights a particular issue within the US healthcare system that is currently under transition or reform (e.g. ACA, Medicaid, mental health). An overview of the system is provided, as well as the epidemiology of the issue. Community representatives, physicians, public health faculty, and state and local health department officials use case studies to engage students in interactive workshops. Evaluation of the forum includes pre-/post surveys, focus groups, and assessments by program directors.

This presentation will introduce the audience to the design, implementation, and evaluation of an elective that can serve as an innovative and realistic approach to integrating policy and advocacy into medical school curricula.

Learning Areas:

Advocacy for health and health education
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Other professions or practice related to public health
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Program planning
Public health or related education

Learning Objectives:
Describe a special curricular program designed to integrate public health into medical education. Describe a two week elective for medical students that develops skills and competencies in community advocacy and public policy. Discuss the importance and impact of public health education, community-based engagement, and policy and advocacy training to develop physician-leaders who can serve urban, underserved communities.

Keyword(s): Curricula, Urban Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the Associate Director of the Urban Medicine Program at the UIC College of Medicine. I am in charge of the development, implementation, and evaluation of this curricular program and am co-author on manuscripts and this submitted abstract.
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.