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Evaluation of a social pediatrics elective: transforming students' perspective through reflection
Meta van den Heuvel1, Hosanna Au, Leo Levin
11Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto, ON, Canada.
Clinical Pediatrics
|March 28, 2014
Summary
This study shows that a social pediatrics elective effectively promotes student self-reflection and transformation. Evaluating reflection papers revealed how social determinants of health, like poverty, impact patient care and inspire practice changes.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Social Pediatrics
- Public Health
Background:
- Social pediatrics integrates social determinants of health (SDOH) into medical training.
- Understanding the impact of SDOH on patient well-being is crucial for pediatricians.
- Educational strategies are needed to foster self-reflection and transformation in medical students regarding SDOH.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the elements of a social pediatrics elective that foster student self-reflection and transformation.
- To assess the educational approach's effectiveness in encouraging the integration of SDOH into pediatric practice.
- To identify evidence of transformative learning phases within student reflection papers.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective evaluation of student self-reflection papers from a social pediatrics elective.
- Analysis focused on the educational approach's success in promoting SDOH integration.
- Searched for indicators of different stages of personal and professional transformation.
Main Results:
- Social determinants of health emerged as the most frequent theme in reflection papers.
- Poverty was a consistently mentioned or implied factor across nearly all student reflections.
- Direct exposure to patients' social contexts (clinics, home visits) was a powerful catalyst for student transformation, often inducing disorientation and profound reflection.
Conclusions:
- Reflection papers serve as a valuable tool for documenting and assessing transformative learning in social pediatrics electives.
- The elective successfully prompted students to confront and integrate the impact of SDOH into their understanding of patient care.
- Experiential learning within the social pediatrics context significantly contributes to medical student development and practice transformation.
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