Medical Students' Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Justice-Involved Health

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Public Health
• Health Equity

Background:

• Limited medical education curricula exist for carceral health care.
• The sufficiency of informal clinical education for justice-involved patients is unclear.
• There is a demonstrated need for sustainable and effective carceral health care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify medical student involvement with carceral populations.
• To explore changes in medical students' knowledge and attitudes towards justice-involved patients during training.
• To assess the impact of carceral medicine education on student knowledge and attitudes.

Main Methods:

• A survey was administered to all medical students at a single U.S. medical school.
• Data were analyzed using Stata 14.0 to compare results between academic years.
• Linear regression was used to test differences between groups.

Main Results:

• Most 4th-year students reported working in a carceral health setting.
• Increased carceral medicine education, jail work hours, and substance abuse training correlated with improved knowledge and attitudes.
• Knowledge and attitude scores increased with academic year, but senior students still scored poorly.

Conclusions:

• Most medical students gain carceral health experience, but formal curricula are needed.
• Didactic and experiential learning improve knowledge and attitudes toward justice-involved patients.
• Enhanced training is crucial to address health disparities in carceral populations.