The Social Emergency Medicine Mini-Curriculum: A Novel, Multifaceted Immersive Approach to Resident Education in Social EM
Abstract
Learning Objectives: 1) To design, implement and evaluate the feasibility of a replicable multifaceted Social EM curriculum for EM residents 2) To increase EM residents’ level of awareness related to Social EM and increase their ability to identify/intervene on social determinants of health in clinical practice
Background: Emergency Medicine (EM) physicians are in a unique position to impact both individual and population health needs. Despite this, EM residency training lacks a formalized education on social determinants of health (SDoH) and social EM (SEM). The need for such a curriculum has been previously recognized, however there is a gap in the literature related to the feasibility of such a curriculum addition. This innovation seeks to address this need.
Curricular Design: A taskforce of EM clinician-educators with expertise in SEM developed a 4.5-hour educational curriculum for use during a single Emergency Medicine resident didactic block (1/2-day session). The curriculum (Table 1) included asynchronous learning via a podcast, four SEM subtopic lecture didactics, guest speakers from ED social work and a community outreach partner representative, and a poverty simulation with interdisciplinary debrief. The curriculum was delivered via videoconference due to COVID-19 restrictions. Pre- and post-curricular intervention participant surveys were obtained.
Impact: Post-survey results (Table 2) demonstrated improved awareness of SEM concepts and increased confidence in participant’s knowledge of community resources and ability to connect patients to these resources following the curricular intervention. In addition, post-survey assessment demonstrated significantly heightened awareness and clinical consideration of SDoH among participants and increased comfort in identifying social risk in the ED. Overall, all components of the curriculum were evaluated as meaningful and specifically beneficial for EM training. The community partner presentation and subtopic lectures were ranked highest, followed closely by the poverty simulation, ED social services presentation, and asynchronous podcast component. This pilot curricular integration study demonstrates the feasibility and perceived participant value of incorporating a SEM curriculum into residency training.