Abstract | November 16, 2023
Needs Assessment for MUSC ACCESS Program Among M4’s & Preliminary Residents
Learning Objectives
- Describe the impact of an ACCESS program on medical student & resident education in global health disparities
- Demonstrate the value of a trainee-led/focused Global Health curriculum for education in low-resource setting care delivery
- Identify ways that the ACCESS program can better prepare medical trainees to become leaders in Global Healthcare Delivery
- Upon completion of this lecture, learners should be better prepared to understand the necessity of a Global Health/Surgery focused curriculum for trainees, by trainees in building a new generation of pioneers in Global Healthcare Delivery to Low-Resource Settings.
Background: The Virginia Commonwealth University’s ACCESS (Acute Care & Systems Strengthening in Low Resource Settings) Program designed by/for trainees focuses on a longitudinal, competency-based global health curriculum with lectures, seminar discussions, research, community engagement, and international bidirectional partnerships. The purpose of this study is to assess the need for a MUSC ACCESS Program and the importance of residency global health options to graduating MUSC medical students currently in the Match.
Methods: A five-question survey was distributed to graduating 4th year medical students and preliminary residents currently applying for the Match. Survey items questioned respondents regarding their current position at MUSC, self-ranked importance of a global health/surgery-focused career path, whether they had ever participated in global health/surgery related efforts, if they had been provided the opportunity to do so, and how well they believe Global Health/Surgery efforts are represented at MUSC.
Results: 85 individuals completed the survey, representing 93% medical students and 7% preliminary residents. Of the respondents, 18.8% of respondents ranked a global health/surgery option a (3/5) importance, and 21.1% ranked a global health/surgery option as a (4/5) or (5/5) importance. Of respondents, 66% said they had never participated in any global health/surgery related efforts at MUSC (Figure 1), but 74% replied they would have been interested in pursuing global heath/surgery-focused curriculums had they been given the opportunity (Figure 2). 88% of respondents ranked global health/surgery representation at MUSC a (3/5) and below, 18.8% of respondents ranked global health/surgery representation at MUSC as very poor (1/5), while 32.9% of respondents ranked global health/surgery representation at MUSC as poor (2/5).
Conclusion: There is strong interest for the MUSC ACCESS program which will provide students, residents, and faculty with invaluable knowledge in healthcare delivery to low-resource and international settings. Additionally, 1 in 5 graduating medical students place significant importance on global health/surgery option availability when considering their rank lists, emphasizing the need for residency programs to engage in Global Health/Surgery. Further study is needed to understand nationally generalizable data on graduating medical student and preliminary resident attitudes towards international medicine and surgery.
References and Resources
- Adams et al. The future of global health education: training for equity in global health. BMC Med Educ. 2016
- Hudspeth et al. Reconfiguring a One-Way Street: A Position Paper on Why and How to Improve Equity in Global Physician Training. Acad Med. 2019
- Stingl et al. Development/Implementation of Global AcuteCare and Systems Strengthening Program. Ann Glob-Health. 2021
