Southern medical journal
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Southern medical journal · May 2022
Developing Awareness and Allies: Simulating Difficult Conversations about Microaggressions for Faculty and Students.
Discrimination and bias in clinical training often take the form of microaggressions, which, albeit unintentional, are detrimental to the learning environment and well-being of students. Although there are a few reports of medical schools training students to respond to microaggressions, none have included a complementery student-led faculty training module. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a case-based approach to improving student resilience and increasing faculty awareness of microaggressions in the clinical setting. ⋯ This approach had results similar to other studies, with the additional benefit of training faculty with the same scenarios. We believe that this method helped bridge the gap between students' notions of discrimination and faculty understanding of microaggressions.
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Southern medical journal · May 2022
Facilitating the Advance Care Planning Conversation with Patients: An Interactive Virtual 1.5-Hour Session.
The Liaison Committee on Medical Education requires that the curriculum of medical schools includes end-of-life care. Most medical students feel reluctant to discuss end-of-life issues with their patients, but would like to learn more. ⋯ The brief didactic presented here on facilitating advance directives conversations constitutes an easily implemented and well-received session for medical students. Students reported high levels of confidence and comfort around having advance directive conversations after participating in this didactic session.
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Southern medical journal · May 2022
The Doctors in the House: Examining Physician Legislators in the US Congress from 2011 to 2020.
Legislation dictating federal healthcare policy is drafted largely by members of the US Senate and House of Representatives. As such, their personal and professional backgrounds play important roles in setting the national healthcare agenda. We examine the professional and legislative records of the 28 federal physician legislators with voting privileges between 2011 and 2020. ⋯ To engage in meaningful healthcare policy advocacy, professional organizations must support and encourage leadership training for physicians, increase the geographic and professional diversity of physician legislators, prioritize the election of physicians from both political parties, and inculcate deep and lasting professional relationships to physicians in Congress.
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Southern medical journal · May 2022
Relationship between Sociodemographic Factors, Perceived COVID-19 Risk, and Engagement with Health Protective Behaviors.
This study describes the relationship between sociodemographic factors, chronic conditions, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) fears and stressors, and the perception of risk from COVID-19 and the use of health protective behaviors among Arkansans during the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ In future pandemic planning, there will be a need to create messaging and interventions to increase health protective behaviors directed at young adults, men, and those with lower education levels. Providers will need to address fears related to COVID-19 and help their patients to manage those fears and anxieties.