Instructional Strategy

Blueprints

Instructor's Guide

Executive Summary

Service-learning, an innovative form of education involving community partnerships, holds great promise as a curricular strategy for creating community-responsive health care professionals. As a structured learning experience that combines community service with preparation and reflection, service-learning is also a strategy for fostering citizenship skills and changing the relationship between communities and health professions schools. It differs from traditional clinical education in significant ways, including the balance between service and learning objectives, the emphasis on reciprocal learning and reflective practice, the focus on populations as well as individuals, and the integral role of community partners. (Seifer, 2001).

Introduction

Service-learning is a structured learning experience that combines community service with preparation and reflection. Students engaged in service-learning provide community service in response to community-identified concerns and learn about the context in which service is provided, the connection between their service and their academic coursework, and their roles as citizens.
Service-learning differs from traditional clinical education in the health professions in that:

• Service-learning strives to achieve a balance between service and learning objectives - in service-learning, partners must negotiate the differences in their needs and expectations.
• Service-learning places an emphasis on addressing community concerns and broad determinants of health.
• In service-learning, there is the integral involvement of community partners - service-learning involves a principle-centered partnership between communities and health professions schools.
• Service-learning emphasizes reciprocal learning - In service-learning, traditional definitions of "faculty," "teacher" and "learner" are intentionally blurred. Each learns from the others.
• Service-learning emphasizes reflective practice - In service-learning, reflection facilitates the connection between practice and theory and fosters critical thinking.
• Service-learning places an emphasis on developing citizenship skills and achieving social change - many factors influence health and quality of life. The provision of health services is not often the most important factor. In service-learning, students place their roles as health professionals and citizens in a larger societal context.

Citation: Seifer SD. (1998). Service-learning: Community-campus partnerships for health professions education. Academic Medicine, 73(3):273-277.

Background

The Association of American Medical Colleges, in its Medical School Objectives Project, outlines the competencies that medical students should demonstrate upon graduation. These include: (1) knowledge of the important non-biological determinants of health and of the economic, psychological, social, and cultural factors contributing to health and disease; (2) knowledge of population health sciences and approaches; (3) a commitment to provide care to patients who are unable to pay; and (4) a commitment to advocate for access to health care for members of traditionally underserved populations. What educational strategies can help to achieve these competencies among medical students and residents? No fewer than six national and international bodies have concluded that community-based education is essential to creating community-responsive physicians. (Seifer, 2001).

Opportunity Statement

We cannot have success in building community spirit in our young people by merely giving speeches, coining slogans or exhorting them to stand tall. A lasting concern for the community comes for the chance to work for others, see their needs, and contribute to something larger than oneself. Derek Bok.

Audience

Learners for this curriculum web are community-based education coordinators at the East Texas Area Health Education Center. Community-based education coordinators serve as linkages between health professions schools and medical providers (physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, etc.) in their community, in that they coordinate the assignment of health professions students on community-based rotations with medical providers in their community who serve as preceptors for the student.

Most of the community-based education coordinators have an undergraduate education and many of the undergraduate degrees will be in a healthcare related field such as health education or public health. Some coordinators may also have a graduate degree or be enrolled in a graduate program and believe in lifelong learning. Most students will be in the age range of mid twenties to mid thirties, although the overall age range is 21 to 65. The majority of the coordinators are female. They are able to work well independently as this is an essential skill in carrying out the requirements of the position. The coordinators have prerequisite computer skills in word processing and web surfing. They will access the lesson via the internet from their own computer in their office or work station.

The coordinator’s supervisor will serve as the “teacher” and will be available for problems they may encounter while completing the lesson and answer any questions they may have. The supervisor will also mentor the coordinator in identifying appropriate service-learning activities in their community.

Goals and Objectives

In order for community-based education coordinators to be able to facilitate the assignment of health professions students to service projects in their community, they must understand what service learning is. The goal of this lesson is for the students to develop an understanding of service learning in health professions education so that they will be able to identify appropriate and needed service-learning activities in their community and facilitate the assignment of health professions students to service projects.

By the end of the lesson students will be able to:

• In their own words, define service learning.
• List the three basic components to effective service-learning.
• List at least two benefits of service-learning to the health professions student and two benefits to the community.
• Identify two potential service-learning activities in their community for health professions students to participate in.

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