The Effect of a Mock Medical Visit on Refugee Health Self-Efficacy and Medical Trainee Communication Apprehension.

INTRODUCTION: As refugees adjust to a new country, their health care can take a toll. Refugees may have difficulty navigating a new health care system and experience low health self-efficacy. Another potential contributor is inadequate medical trainee curriculum addressing refugee health. METHODS: We devised simulated clinic experiences called mock medical visits. Surveys were utilized before and after the mock medical visits to assess the Health Self-Efficacy Scale for refugees and the Personal Report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension for trainees. RESULTS: Health Self-Efficacy Scale scores increased from 13.67 to 15.47 (P = 0.08, n = 15). Personal Report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension scores decreased from 27.1 to 25.4 (P = 0.40, n = 10). DISCUSSION: While our study did not reach statistical significance, the overall trends suggest mock medical visits can be a valuable tool to increase health self-efficacy in refugee community members and decrease intercultural communication apprehension in medical trainees.

Case-Based Immigrant Health Ethics Curriculum: A Pathway to Improve Care and Advocacy.

Introduction Immigrants comprised a significant portion of the total population in the United States (US), and a considerable number of children in the US live with at least one immigrant parent, which has continued to increase over the past decades. However, healthcare providers (HPs) in the US report lack of comfort in interacting with immigrant and refugee populations. Methods The authors, in partnership with the Midwest Consortium of Global Health Educators, developed an innovative, interactive ethics curriculum within the Immigrant Partnership Advocacy and Curricular Kit (I-PACK). They sought to increase HPs' confidence in navigating complex encounters with immigrant families by teaching a relevant ethical framework, highlighting the importance of cultural humility, and equipping learners with an ethics tool (five-box Method) for use in clinical encounters. They piloted the curriculum during three workshop sessions in 2020-2021, and this curriculum continues to be used nationally as a part of I-PACK. Results Pre- and post-session surveys indicated that all participants (100%, n=22) reported acquisition of new skills/knowledge and 19 (86%) felt confident applying this to their clinical practice. The participants reported appreciation for an ethical framework with which to analyze cases, enjoyment of active participation in small group discussions, and utility of the five-box method tool. Some areas of improvement offered were to have more cases and more time dedicated to small-group discussions. Conclusions Given the success of the I-PACK ethics curriculum pilot, the authors plan to incorporate immigrant health cases in the general ethics training in medical school classes and pediatric residency training. Furthermore, they will advocate for the importance of including immigrant health ethics across graduate medical education, as fluency and competence in navigating the ethics of immigrant health are required to provide patient-centered, culturally informed care to all populations.

The Immigrant Partnership and Advocacy Curricular Kit: A Comprehensive Train-the-Trainer Curriculum in Immigrant and Refugee Health.

The number of immigrants and refugees in the United States is growing, yet many trainees and clinicians feel unprepared to manage the diverse needs of this population. This perspective piece describes the development of the Immigrant Partnership and Advocacy Curricular Kit (I-PACK) by the Midwest Consortium of Global Child Health Educators. I-PACK is an adjunct to the Consortium's sugarprep.org global health curricular materials. Using Kern's six-step approach to curriculum development, they developed eight modules in immigrant and refugee health that incorporate interactive learning activities. The I-PACK was launched as an open-access resource in September 2020. As of September 2021, the curriculum has been freely available at sugarprep.org/i-pack and downloaded from educators in 15 countries. The I-PACK curriculum can address a growing need in medical education to empower learners and clinicians to provide competent and compassionate care for immigrants and refugees.

The medical transition of young adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D): a retrospective chart review identifies areas in need of improvement.

BACKGROUND: The transition process from pediatric to adult care in individuals with T1D has long-term ramifications on health outcomes. Recognition of differences in care delivery and changes made in management during this time may improve the process. We hypothesized that pediatric providers would be less likely to address T1D-related comorbidities than their adult counterparts, highlighting opportunities to strengthen care. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of patients aged 16-21 years diagnosed with T1D before age 18 was performed. Data on diagnosis, screening, and management of hypertension, dyslipidemia, microalbuminuria, retinopathy, and neuropathy were collected for 1 year before and 1 year after transition to adult care. The 'ADA Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes' were used to determine adherence to the above parameters. Data before and after transition was compared by Fischer's Exact and Exact McNemar tests. RESULTS: Complete medical records for 54 subjects were reviewed before and after transition from pediatric to adult care providers within a single academic medical system (52% male; 78% Caucasian). Transition to adult care occurred at a mean age of 18 years. Mean length of transition was 7.8 months with no significant change in an individual's HbA1c over that time. Over the transition period, there was no difference in diagnoses of hypertension or the use of anti-hypertensive. Adherence to lipid and retinopathy screening was similar across the transition period; however, adherence to microalbuminuria screening was higher after the transition to adult providers (p = 0.01). Neuropathy screening adherence was overall poor but also improved after transition (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, there were no significant changes in the diagnosis or management of several T1D-related comorbidities during the transition period in a small cohort of young adults with T1D. The transition length was longer than the recommended 3-months, highlighting an opportunity to improve the process. There was no deterioration of glycemic control over this time, although HbA1c values were above target. Adult providers had significantly higher rates of adherence to screening for microalbuminuria and neuropathy than their pediatric counterparts, but adherence for neuropathy was quite poor overall, indicating a need for practice improvement.

S-PACK: A Modular and Modifiable, Comprehensive Predeparture Preparation Curriculum for Global Health Experiences.

PROBLEM: Approximately 25% of trainees participate in a global health elective during their undergraduate or graduate medical education. Increasingly, educators in the United States and international partners are calling for improved predeparture preparation training for global health experiences. Yet, freely available, easily modifiable curricula are rare. APPROACH: Educators who created the Simulation Use for Global Away Rotations (SUGAR) curriculum formed a workgroup in September 2017 to develop the SUGAR Pre-Departure Activities Curricular Kit (S-PACK). Using Kern's 6-step approach to curriculum development, they identified 10 essential domains for global health preparation, developed learning objectives, created interactive activities pertinent to those domains using different education strategies, piloted and refined the curriculum, packaged it for online facilitator training, and disseminated it in March 2018. OUTCOMES: The S-PACK curriculum includes 6 interactive, modifiable modules that use a variety of educational strategies to enable educators to comprehensively prepare trainees for global health electives. Modules incorporate simulations, procedural training, small-group case-based discussions, and reflection exercises on topics ranging from providing treatment when resources are limited to mitigating culture shock to considering wellness while away. Each module includes a facilitator training packet, curricular resources, and introduction videos. All are freely available at sugarprep.org. NEXT STEPS: Since an initial in-person workshop at a national conference, the S-PACK curriculum has been available online. Further evaluation is underway, including developing assessments for educators to measure trainee readiness for global health electives. Piloting the feasibility of regional S-PACK preparation bootcamps to support training programs with limited global health resources is planned.