New Research: Bringing Patients and Society Back into the Social Accountability of a Medical School
Our team has been awarded a research and development grant from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada / Associated Medical Services to co-create with patients and the public a set of evidence-based guiding principles, models and processes for the authentic, responsive, ongoing and sustainable engagement of patients and the public in the mission, goals, curriculum and delivery of medical education. The project was one of only two projects selected for funding by the Education Research Grants Committee.
The research will help UBC’s medical school engage patients and members of the public in defining and addressing the priority health concerns in British Columbia. The main method of consultation will be a series of focus groups with patients / public in different geographic areas of the province, with the aim to include people in the principal sites of UBC’s distributed medical program (Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Victoria, Prince George, Kelowna), as well as a sampling of rural and remote communities.
The project will result in a recommendations for patient and public engagement in our distributed medical school and health professions education more broadly. In the short term, we will better understand how to authentically and sustainably engage with patients / public in the mission, goals, curriculum and program delivery of the medical school. The long-term goal is to make medical education more responsive to the needs of patients and society.
The project will be directed by a team of faculty, student and patient/public co-investigators. Stay tuned!