A Student-Faculty Collaboration: Embedding Trauma-Informed Care in Medical Education

Trauma-informed medical education (TIME) applies trauma-informed care (TIC) frameworks to address the long-term effects of potentially traumatic events and better serve patients, learners, and faculty. Because exposure to trauma and adversity has been linked to negative clinical and educational outcomes, medical educators have the dual responsibilities of teaching students about the effects of trauma and adversity on patients while using TIME methods to support student learning and psychological safety. Despite increasing recognition of the importance of trauma-informed curricular content and educational context, many medical schools have yet to incorporate longitudinal trauma-informed instruction to ensure student clinical competency in TIC practices. As members of an inaugural student-faculty collaborative and resulting medical school-wide TIC curricular theme committee, we reflect on our student and faculty curricular co-creation journeys, including the challenges encountered and strategies employed. Drawing from TIC curricular development literature, we provide suggestions for medical schools and institutions embarking on comprehensive integration of TIME.