Emily Milford|Kristin Morrison|Carol Teutsch|Bergen B. Nelson|Ariella Herman|Mernell King|Nathan L. Beucke
Out of the classroom and into the community: medical students consolidate learning about health literacy through collaboration with Head Start
University of Missouri Hospital|University of Missouri Hospital|University of California, Los Angeles|Mattel Children's Hospital|University of California, Los Angeles|University of Missouri Health System
medical schools need teach future physicians health literacy patientdoctor communication especially working vulnerable communities many fall short article present communitybased service learning experience one academic year preclerkship portion medical school innovative successful model medical students learn health literacy practice effective communication strategies eat healthy stay active ehsa 5month pediatric obesity intervention designed head start children parent staff hypothesized students attitudes knowledge skills confidence regarding healthy literacy patient communication would improve baseline receiving training serving family mentors ehsa interventionfirst secondyear medical students trained series didactics partnered head start children parents staff help educate set goals families ehsa intervention medical students given pre postintervention survey designed measure attitudes knowledge skills confidence regarding health literacy presurvey administered first didactic session postsurvey administered conclusion ehsa intervention compared students pre postintervention responses using paired ttests throughout project medical students asked complete set openended journal questions experiences responses examined using qualitative thematic analyses additionally head start parents staff asked complete survey experience working medical studentsparticipant n12 pre postsurveys revealed medical students attitudes importance health literacy ranked highly pre post intervention however knowledge skills confidence regarding health literacy showed statistically significant improvement baseline journal entries categorized qualitatively demonstrate medical students insight growth development throughout project survey results head start parents showed medical student participation highly valuedproviding medical students service learning opportunity work individuals low health literacy preclerkship years increased students knowledge skills confidence regarding health literacy communication