• Christen Johnson, Mark Rastetter, and J Nwando Olayiwola.
• Faculty Lead for Cultural Compentancy and Race in Medicine Curriculum and Adjunct Professor, Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, Community Family Medicine Physician, Heart of Ohio Family Health Centers; PO Box 361743 Columbus, Ohio 43236, Former Resident, Urban Track of The Ohio State University Family and Community Medicine Residency Program. Electronic address: CJohnsonMDMPH@gmail.com.
• J Natl Med Assoc. 2022 Apr 1; 114 (2): 141-146.

BackgroundHealth disparities negatively impact the lives of patients and are a product of the social categorization of medicine. In dismantling the systemic racism and biases that create health disparities, health equity curricula can be implemented that improve resident physician awareness and competency in caring for patients from vulnerable populations.ObjectiveThe objective of this study is to assess the impact of a resident-led health equity curriculum on the self-efficacy of family medicine residents in caring for vulnerable populations and managing challenging patient scenarios.MethodsThe Health Equity Leadership Concentration (HELC) curriculum was implemented in the fall of 2019. Residents self-selected their participation in the concentration and completed pre- and 6-month post- implementation surveys on self-efficacy. Deidentified survey data were analyzed with α = 0.05 significance level.ResultsEight residents of 26 residents self-selected to participate (30%) with pre- and post- implementation survey response rates of 100% and 87.5% (HELC) and 66.7% and 88% (general residents). A significant increase in self-efficacy was observed in caring for the uninsured (p=0.007), LGBTQ (P=0.047), and Immigrant (p=0.04) populations and managing food insecurity (p=0.01) after 6 months in the HELC curriculum. No significant increases were seen in the general resident curriculum. HELC residents had a significant increase in self-efficacy in caring for the Medicaid population (p=0.048) in comparison with the general residents.ConclusionsThe HELC was successful in increasing self-efficacy in caring for vulnerable populations and managing challenging patient scenarios at 6-months. Further evaluation is needed for generalizability and determination of true statistical significance.Copyright © 2022 National Medical Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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