Abstract
Background: Effective social and behavioral sciences teaching in medical education requires integration with clinical experience, as well as collaboration with social and behavioral sciences experts and clinical faculties. However, teaching models for achieving this integration have not been adequately established, nor has the collaboration process been described. This study aims to propose a collaborative clinical case conference model to integrate social and behavioral sciences and clinical experience. Additionally, we describe how social and behavioral science experts and clinical faculties collaborate during the development of the teaching method.Methods: A team of clinical teachers and medical anthropologists planned for the development of a case conference based on action research methodology. The initial model planned for a 3-hour session, similar to the Clinicopathological Conference structure. We evaluated each session based on fieldnotes taken by medical anthropologists, and post-session questionnaires that surveyed participants’ reactions and points of improvements. Based on the evaluation, a reflective meeting was held to discuss revisions for the next trial. We incorporated the development process into undergraduate medical curricula in clinical years and in a postgraduate and continuous professional development session for residents and certified family physicians in Japan. We repeated the plan-act-observe-reflection process more than 15 times between 2015 and 2018.Results: The development of the collaborative clinical case conference model is summarized in three phases: Quasi-CPC, Interactive, and Co-constructive with unique structures and underlying paradigms. The model successfully contributed to promoting the participants’ recognition of the clinical significance of social and behavioral sciences. The case preparation entailed a unique, significant learning of how social and behavioral sciences inform clinical practice. The model development process promoted the mutual understanding between clinical faculties and anthropologists, which might function as faculty development for teachers involved in social and behavioral sciences teaching in medical education. Conclusions: The application of fitting conference models and awareness of their underlying paradigm according to educational situations could promote the integration of social and behavioral sciences with clinical medicine education. Faculty development in social and behavioral sciences in medical education should focus on collaboration with scholars with different paradigmatic orientations.
Medical education for equity in health: a participatory action research involving persons living in poverty and healthcare professionals
