From the Classroom to the Community: Cultivating Social Responsibility in Medical Education

Abstract

This paper explores the experiences of two first year medical students through the Local Global Health Elective, a year-long clinical placement program developed through the Dalhousie Global Health Office. The article begins with a narrative exploration of the clinical experiences of the authors during their elective placements in two underserved local Halifax communities. The paper then explores the shifting paradigm in medical education around how learning objectives related to the social determinants of health are met in undergraduate medical education. The article concludes with a discussion about going beyond teaching the social determinants of health in a controlled classroom setting. The authors argue that in order for medical students to translate knowledge about the social determinants of health into behavior and action that reflects the unique needs of each patient, a participatory solution is needed.