Introduction: Emergency physicians are in a unique position to impact both individual and population health needs. Despite this, emergency medicine (EM) residency training lacks formalized education n the social determinants of health (SDoH) and integration of patient social risk and need, which are core components of social EM (SEM). The need for such a SEM-based residency curriculum has been previously recognized; however, there is a gap in the literature related to demonstration and feasibility. In this study we sought to address this need by implementing and evaluating a replicable, multifaceted introductory SEM curriculum for EM residents. This curriculum is designed to increase general awareness related to SEM and to increase ability to identify and intervene upon SDoH in clinical practice.
Methods: A taskforce of EM clinician-educators with expertise in SEM developed a 4.5-hour educational curriculum for use during a single, half-day didactic session for EM residents. The curriculum consisted of asynchronous learning via a podcast, four SEM subtopic lecture didactics, guest speakers from the emergency department (ED) social work team and a community outreach partner, and a poverty simulation with interdisciplinary debrief. We obtained pre- and post- intervention surveys.
Results: A total of 35 residents and faculty attended the conference day, with 18 participants completing the immediate post-conference survey and 10 participants completing the two-month delayed, post-conference survey. Post-survey results demonstrated improved awareness of SEM concepts and increased confidence in participants’ knowledge of community resources and ability to connect patients to these resources following the curricular intervention (25% pre-conference to 83% post-conference). In addition, post-survey assessment demonstrated significantly heightened awareness and clinical consideration of SDoH among participants (31% pre-conference to 78% post-conference) and increased comfort in identifying social risk in the ED (75% pre-conference to 94% post-conference). Overall, all components of the curriculum were evaluated as meaningful and specifically beneficial for EM training. The ED care coordination, poverty simulation, and the subtopic lectures were rated most meaningful.
Conclusion: This pilot curricular integration study demonstrates feasibility and the perceived participant value of incorporating a social EM curriculum into EM residency training.
