LEWISBURG, WV (LOOTPRESS) – First-year medical students at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine recently participated in the first mandatory activity of the academic year which introduced the concept of social determinants of health.
The concept comprises nonmedical factors which affect the quality of life and overall health of an individual.
The World Health Organization describes the notion as, “economic stability, education access and quality, health care access and quality, neighborhood and built environment, and social community context. This definition would also be adopted by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Students partook in an activity during which each student received a random assignment of one of seven characters which they would be expected to portray. These included a widower without a high school education, a woman with an abusive boyfriend, a homeless, unemployed man with hepatitis C, and other individuals navigating precarious circumstances.
“Once we heard about this activity designed by one of our own students, we knew we needed to work with her to incorporate it into the curriculum,” said West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine faculty member, Courtney Eleazer, Ph.D, of the activity, which was created by Madison Robinson, a WVSOM student in her fourth year. “We believe this experience will set the tone for a lifelong journey of providing high-quality care and empathy to patients from all walks of life.”
The social determinants simulation was first presented by Robinson at a 2023 extracurricular event which was sponsored in part by the WVSOM Center for Rural and Community Health. It would later be established as a mandatory part of the coursework of WVSOM students. This, according to the institution, is due to the emphasis placed upon rural primary care as a central focus of the mission of the school.
Additional information on WVSOM programs can be found at the WVSOM website.
