Documentaries as Teaching Tools: Enhancing Medical Student Knowledge in Trauma-Informed Care for Refugees.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Public Health
• Trauma Studies

Background:

• Refugee populations face significant trauma, requiring specialized, culturally sensitive healthcare.
• Traditional medical education often fails to adequately prepare clinicians for trauma-informed care (TIC) for refugees.
• There is a need for innovative educational tools to enhance empathy and understanding in refugee healthcare.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a documentary-based educational intervention for teaching second-year medical students TIC principles for refugee healthcare.
• To assess the documentary's impact on students' understanding of refugee experiences, healthcare barriers, and TIC strategies.

Main Methods:

• A needs assessment, including interviews with providers and refugees, informed documentary creation.
• The documentary featured authentic narratives of the refugee journey, healthcare barriers, and TIC.
• Pre- and post-test surveys assessed the intervention's effectiveness among 160 medical students.

Main Results:

• Significant improvements were observed in students' understanding of refugee healthcare logistics, barriers, trauma presentations, and TIC principles (p < 0.001).
• Over 90% of students reported increased motivation to apply TIC in their future clinical practice.
• The documentary was rated more effective than traditional lectures in conveying concepts and fostering empathy.

Conclusions:

• A narrative-driven documentary intervention is a valuable tool for medical training in refugee healthcare.
• This approach provides a comprehensive and empathetic framework for educating clinicians on TIC for refugees.
• The intervention successfully enhanced students' knowledge, skills, and motivation for culturally sensitive refugee care.