Implementing a Veteran-Centric Care Curriculum for Internal Medicine Residents: A Preliminary Report

We sought to evaluate the benefit of implementing a 2-hour afternoon didactic workshop teaching Internal Medicine (IM) residents about the unique aspects of caring for US military veterans.

Using a conceptual framework of patient-centric care, we designed and implemented a veteran-centric care workshop focusing on cultural differences in veteran care, taking a military social history as a healthcare provider, and understanding comorbidity patterns in the US veteran population. The curriculum for the workshop was developed from existing literature combined with five 10-minute prerecorded interviews with local Veterans Affairs facility staff on the theme of veteran-centric care. This culminated in a 2-hour afternoon didactic workshop for IM residents that was delivered on six consecutive Monday afternoons to rotating firms of our IM residency during August-September 2022. The workshop was evaluated using a single postevent questionnaire that included three Likert scale items and one open-ended narrative response.

In total, 115 of 137 residents completed the questionnaire, resulting in an 84% response rate. More than 94% of residents strongly agreed or agreed the content was informative, 91% of residents believed that the presentation style was engaging, and 89% of residents strongly agreed or agreed that the workshop equipped them to more effectively provide care to a veteran. A total of 19 narrative comments were received, with the majority being positive toward the engaging nature of the workshop (n = 10) and educational value of the video interviews (n = 9).

A workshop on veteran-centric care featuring Veterans Affairs provider interviews was feasible to implement within an IM residency curriculum and effective in equipping residents' perceived ability to deliver veteran-centric care.