First Aid for Health Policy: Aiding UC Davis in Creating Physician Leaders

​

Angelica C. Martin, MPH, Erik Fernández y García, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.A.P., Patrick S. Romano, MD, MPH, FACP, FAAP

​

 

Health policy plays a major role in the way that health professionals practice medicine [1] and in the lived experiences of patients as they access health care services. Knowledge about the foundations of health policy is necessary in order to be an invested and active participant. As such, in order to produce health care leaders, UC Davis Schools of Medicine must ensure that its students are equipped with a basic understanding of health policy and its many components.

​

MEDICAL STUDENTS AND HEALTH POLICY EDUCATION

It is often assumed that entering medical students, many with experience working with community organizations and participating with civic and service organizations, have an understanding of health policy [2]. This is an incorrect assumption. While medical students may have backgrounds in healthcare and volunteer experiences with community organizations, many have limited knowledge of health policy or even of general public policy [3]. Additionally, knowledge of health policy is not a requirement for admission to medical school but the American Medical Association now considers “Health Systems Sciences” as the third pillar of medical education along with the historic pillars of basic and clinical sciences [4].Therefore, a basic course to ensure the foundational concepts, could potentiate the effect of health policy courses which are already provided in the curriculum and ensure that future physicians are equipped to provide care within the modern health care environment.  

 

FIRST AID FOR HEALTH POLICY

UC Davis School of Medicine’s curriculum for the first year includes Health Equity sessions, MDS 418A: Health and Humanity, and the Spring elective MDS 485: Health Policy Lecture Series. These are necessary and highly valuable. However, these sessions currently presume a basic knowledge of general public policy and specifically health policy, which entering medical students may not possess due to lack of exposure [5]. For example, a basic understanding of how a bill becomes a law, the structure of our current healthcare system, and workshops on advocacy skills are currently not included in the first-year health policy course at UC Davis but are believed to be an important in equipping future leaders with the ability to enact health policy action [6]. In responses to these gaps, the first author created MDS 484: First Aid for Health Policy.

 

The goals of the First Aid for Health Policy lecture series are to: 1) equip the medical students with a foundation of health policy to reap all of the benefits from the subsequent health policy courses currently part of the UC Davis health policy curriculum, 2) allow medical students to be an active participant in local, state, and federal health policy discussions, and 3) help UC Davis SOM create leaders in clinical care, research, and health services organization and policy.

 

Through one-hour lunch time lectures led by experts in their respective fields, First Aid for Health Policy offers a basic understanding of the structure of government, the process of how a bill becomes a law, the role of legislative visits, what healthcare foundations are, the role of non-profits, and our current healthcare system (Table 1). The focus is on presenting these topics in a simple and approachable manner. To date, 48% of first and second-year students have registered for the for-credit elective course.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

​

​

​

​

​

CONCLUSION

UC Davis is committed to “providing excellent learner-centered education to a diverse body of medical students and graduate students; cultivating in them the passion to improve lives and transform the health of the communities they will serve as physicians, scientists and health care leaders.” An understanding of health policy has become essential as a healthcare provider in the United States and an important aspect in becoming a health care leader. Thus, by ensuring that students attain an understanding of health policy, UC Davis is upholding its commitment to its mission of creating health care leaders.

 

The First Aid for Health Policy Lecture Series was created as an effort to improve the effectiveness of the current health policy curriculum and to complement UC Davis’ efforts. By preemptively addressing any foundational health policy knowledge gaps that incoming first year students may or may not have, First Aid for Health Policy allows UC Davis to practice and promote equity amongst its students while actively working towards its mission of creating healthcare leaders. Additionally, many students feel that addressing health policy is part of the professional responsibility of physicians [7]. Here at UCDSOM, the constant attendance of 100 students per lecture show that there is a demand for this material.

 

First Aid for Health Policy Lecture Series is currently an elective course. With the new curriculum currently being developed; UC Davis has the opportunity to continue being a leader in health education and healthcare delivery by integrating this foundational coursework into its curriculum. Although inclusion into the Health Care Policy/ Advocacy area of scholarly concentration in the upcoming I-EXPLORE curriculum would be a first step, integration into the core curriculum would ensure that all students are exposed to this important subject matter.

​

Declaration of Conflict of Interest: No disclaimers or conflicts of interest to disclose. No funding sources. 

 

References

1. Gupta R. Why should medical students care about health policy?. PLoS Med. 2006;3(10):e199. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0030199

2. Raffoul M, Bartlett-Esquilant G, Phillips RL Jr. Recruiting and Training a Health Professions Workforce to Meet the Needs of Tomorrow's Health Care System. Acad Med. 2019;94(5):651-655. doi:10.1097/ACM.0000000000002606

3. Emil S, Nagurney JM, Mok E, Prislin MD. Attitudes and knowledge regarding health care policy and systems: a survey of medical students in Ontario and California. CMAJ Open. 2014;2(4):E288-E294. Published 2014 Oct 1. doi:10.9778/cmajo.20130094

4. American Medical Association. AMA announces effort to train future doctors on health systems science. [cited 2020 Sep 24]. Available from: URL: https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/press-releases/ama-announces-effort-train-future-doctors-health-systems-science.

5. Mou D, Sarma A, Sethi R, Merryman R. The state of health policy education in U.S. medical schools. N Engl J Med. 2011;364(10):e19. doi:10.1056/NEJMp1101603

6. Hearne SA. Practice-based teaching for health policy action and advocacy. Public Health Rep. 2008;123 Suppl 2(Suppl 2):65-70. doi:10.1177/00333549081230S209

7. Rook JM, Winkelman TNA, Fox JA, et al. Looking to the Future: Medical Students' Views on Health Care Reform and Professional Responsibility. Acad Med. 2019;94(9):1361-1368. doi:10.1097/ACM.0000000000002621