Using social prescribing by Iranian medical students: a step towards community-orientation and social determinants of health by revising the health internship curriculum

Abstract

Background In order to meet patients' social needs, including social prescribing in the curriculum of medical students is a necessity. Aim Becoming familiarized with the SDH perspective and referral method to link workers (LWs) and the principles of social prescribing (SP). Methods Using Levin's model, the intervention was performed in the field of health of medical students in 2018–2020 for 38 interns in Dezful University of Medical Sciences. Following holding meetings (Plan), a social case was selected and the social version (Act) was developed. Then the other students observed the prescription and identified the strengths and weaknesses (Reflect). Finally, the results were evaluated by Kirk Patrick model. Results At the reaction level, 63.14% agreed with the applicability of SP and 68.42% with its usefulness for prospective work; 97.36% believed that familiarity with the community context was essential and 78.93% considered SDH study and SP’s necessary. At the learning level, over 90% of the total score was obtained. The results of behavior level included interest, compassion and following up people's problems, the level of results, empowerment and improving unhealthy living conditions of individuals. Conclusion Promising positive results indicate that SP can be one of the ways of supporting primary health care.

Building the social prescribing student movement in Canada

“…Experiences in other countries reveal that student-led efforts to educate peers about social prescribing need to be supplemented with formal education through a combination of didactic teaching and experiential learning opportunities. 4,[21][22][23][24][25] Together, these actions will help to build the social prescribing student movement, which will not only shape the wider social prescribing movement, but also the future of our health system.…”

Demanded interdisciplinary subjects for integration in medical education program from the point of view of graduated medical physicians and senior medical students: a nationwide mixed qualitative-quantitative study from Iran

“…This study concluded that similar to a lot of efforts that have been made in western countries to revise the curriculum of medical students in line with changes, demographic needs and technology progressions, an evolution of medical education is also needed in Iran. This study also resulted that enrichment of medical education with social prescription is the gateway toward strengthening of primary health care [ 13 ].…”

Mouvement étudiant pour la prescription sociale au Canada

“…Selon ce que nous avons observé dans d'autres pays, les efforts déployés par les étudiants pour sensibiliser leurs pairs à la prescription sociale doivent être renforcés par une éducation formelle qui allie l'enseignement didactique aux possibilités d'apprentissage par l'expérience4,[21][22][23][24][25] .Ensemble, ces mesures vont aider à créer un mouvement étudiant pour la prescription sociale qui façonnera non seulement le mouvement pour la prescription sociale en général mais aussi l'avenir de notre système de santé.…”