Lightning Talk

Assessing Community Engagement Education in a Student-Run Free Clinic: A Pilot Study

Wednesday, September 25, 2024, 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm CDT
Some experience with IPE
student run free cliniccommunity engagementcurriculum

Volunteering in a student-run free clinic (SRFC) is a common way for health science graduate students to engage with the community where their institution is located. Serving in this environment acts as an introductory, supportive learning environment for students to practice community health work and develop their understanding of patient-care centered care. SRFC often face a unique challenge and opportunity in that student volunteers arrive with various backgrounds and experiences, and with differing knowledge, theories, and types of experiences with ethical community engagement. With these varying starting places, intentional effort, training, and resources must be dedicated to ensure student volunteers are well-trained in holistic, ethical community care.


A student-led team at the Phillips Neighborhood Clinic (PNC), a SRFC, run by University of Minnesota health professional graduate students from 14 different disciplines, set out to build a curriculum that teaches ethical community engagement specifically for health science students . With the input from community partners, including staff at St. Paul’s-San Pablo, an English-Spanish language church that hosts PNC, the team developed a three-part training series centered around community engagement for 200 incoming first year volunteers to provide baseline knowledge and skills necessary to volunteer in the community. These training sessions included themes such as interprofessional workplace cultural humility, structural competency, and structural humility. This curriculum strives to mold volunteers’ professional identity, improve interprofessional communication skills, and ingrain the importance of community advocacy in order to improve the health of the community they serve.


The relevance of the curriculum was assessed through a pilot study evaluating the volunteer before and after they completed the training on themes touched on throughout the training and questions relevant to their experience as a PNC volunteer. The data was collected and grouped into the categories of teamwork, workplace humility, social determinants of health, structural humility, and difference making. Subgroup analysis of the results based on the volunteer’s school program and amount of previous healthcare experience shows that those from varying backgrounds gained different knowledge from the curriculum but improved in their knowledge regardless of their background in either category.


This study demonstrates that there is merit in designing and implementing a curriculum centered around foundational community engagement themes in a SRFC, to support future calls to action for sustained community partnership. Expanding this to other SRFC can improve the quality of care delivered to the community.

Accreditation Details

In support of improving patient care, this activity is planned and implemented by The National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education Office of Interprofessional Continuing Professional Development (National Center OICPD). The National Center OICPD is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

As a Jointly Accredited Provider, the National Center is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. The National Center maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive continuing education credits.

The National Center OICPD (JA#: 4008105) is approved by the Board of Certification, Inc. to provide continuing education to Athletic Trainers (ATs).

This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credit for learning and change.

Text reads "Office of Interprofessional Continuing Professional Development" and shown are logos for the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education,
                    the University of Minnesota School of Nursing, and the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy.
 

Physicians: The National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education designates this live activity for AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with their participation.

Physician Assistants: The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) accepts credit from organizations accredited by the ACCME.

Nurses: Participants will be awarded contact hours of credit for attendance at this workshop.

Nurse Practitioners: The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Program (AANPCP) accepts credit from organizations accredited by the ACCME and ANCC.

Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians: This activity is approved for contact hours.

Athletic Trainers: This program is eligible for Category A hours/CEUs. ATs should claim only those hours actually spent in the educational program.

Social Workers: As a Jointly Accredited Organization, the National Center is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. The National Center maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive continuing education credits.

IPCE: This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credits for learning and change.

Learners can claim CE credit by completing the Daily Evaluation.