A National Survey of Medical School Curricula on Criminal Justice and Health

Abstract

The number of U.S. medical schools that provide clinical training in correctional facilities or classroom-based training in criminal justice-related issues is unknown. This study consisted of an online survey of deans of education at U.S. schools granting an MD degree to assess teaching regarding criminal justice and health, and clinical training in correctional settings. We compared perceptions of such training and perceptions of graduate preparedness between programs with and without correctional health curricula. Institutions that offered instruction in correctional health were significantly more likely to agree that their graduates believe incarceration to be a social determinant of health and that their graduates are prepared to care for incarcerated patients. A substantial number of U.S. medical schools offer teaching that links health and criminal justice, though the extent of curricula varies significantly.

Clinician Experiences of Care Provision in the Correctional Setting: A Scoping Review

“…Only one publication focused on the correctional experience of health professions trainees, although these experiences, if positive, can represent an opportunity to cultivate and recruit a future correctional workforce as well as train community providers aware of the health hazards associated with incarceration (Candamo et al, 2018; Simon & Tobey, 2019).…”

“…Such issues may be partly responsible for the difficulty many facilities face in recruiting and retaining providers (Kalra et al, 2016). Indeed, there is limited exposure to correctional settings for health trainees (Candamo et al, 2018; Simon & Tobey, 2019) and a lack of standardized competencies specific to correctional clinicians (Haley et al, 2009).…”

Justice for Incarcerated Moms Act of 2021: Reflections and recommendations

“…Another provision would “provide clinical educational opportunities to maternity care providers in training to expand pathways into maternal health care careers serving incarcerated individuals.” There is growing recognition among health professionals that medical, nursing, and dental students should be adequately trained to provide quality care to incarcerated populations, yet a majority of health care trainees are not exposed to issues of mass incarceration and health. 45 And while some U.S. medical schools offer training at the intersection of health and criminal justice, there is considerable variation in this curricula 46 and few focus on women’ health, specifically. 47 Venters has argued that recruiting and retaining healthcare providers to work in prisons and jails remains “a core barrier to improving correctional health care.” 48 Preparing a mission-driven workforce that is highly qualified to provide excellent care to pregnant and postpartum people in prisons and jails will require meaningful training opportunities, like what is proposed in H.R.948.…”

“…There is growing recognition among health professionals that medical, nursing, and dental students should be adequately trained to provide quality care to incarcerated populations, yet a majority of health care trainees are not exposed to issues of mass incarceration and health. 45 And while some U.S. medical schools offer training at the intersection of health and criminal justice, there is considerable variation in this curricula 46 and few focus on women' health, specifically. 47 Venters has argued that recruiting and retaining healthcare providers to work in prisons and jails remains "a core barrier to improving correctional health care."…”

On pandemics and pivots: a COVID-19 reflection on envisioning the future of medical education

“…The medical education curriculum has also historically been relatively weak on the complex themes of health equity and medical ethics, including indigenous health, minority health, migrant health, refugee health, care of sexual and gender minority groups, poverty, rurality, and mental health[23]. For example, despite incarceration being an epicenter for chronic illness, infectious disease, mental illness, and substance abuse, medical education programs rarely teach correctional health[24]. Students and residents are under-prepared to understand the multi-faceted impacts on health equity and local community health inherent in such subpopulations, particularly when government health directives are based solely on dominant population norms and fail to incorporate regard for minority and underrepresented communities[25].Medicine is a complex social practice.…”