Medical education curricula must evolve to better prepare future physicians to address the social, behavioral, and systemic health needs of patients today. Mobile clinics present a unique opportunity to teach future physicians about providing person-centered care, working with communities, addressing social determinants of health, and promoting health equity. We will present a model of community engagement for medical students aboard the mobile clinic The Family Van.

Mobile health clinics are a critical strategy for expanding access to underserved communities and an opportunity for future physicians to learn about community health, health equity, and innovative health care delivery.   This session explores the impacts of The Family Van’s Community Engagement Clerkship (CEC) on Harvard Medical School (HMS) students’ professional development and practice of medicine. We will share not only the longitudinal impacts of the CEC but also the development of the clerkship and cross-sector partnerships that led to the creation of the CEC as a clinical clerkship in the HMS curriculum.

We will explore partnerships between mobile clinic staff, third-and fourth-year medical students, faculty, leadership of Community Based Organizations, and community health experts that established the CEC at Harvard Medical School. To evaluate the impacts of the CEC, we analyzed 100 student weekly reflection papers from senior medical students who completed the CEC and used an emergent thematic approach to understand how the CEC shaped participants’ dedication to and ability to promote equitable care both during the clerkship and later as practicing physicians.  

The impact of the CEC, revealed in students’ weekly reflections, showed enhancement in students’ ability to understand principles of person-centered care and to implement practices that advance health equity. Sixteen categories emerged with five main themes including (1) understanding of social medicine, (2) understanding of social forces shaping health (3) ability to challenge traditional power dynamics in medicine, (4) ability to integrate the community into health care delivery, and (5) ability to advocate for patients and communities. We will discuss successful strategies from implementing the CEC, including community-based and stakeholder-engaged practices and the critical role mobile clinics can play in empowering future physicians to shape medicine nationwide.  

Learning Objectives: Participants will discuss how mobile clinics can provide unique learning environments for training future physicians principles of community health, health equity, and patient-centered care. The Family Van will demonstrate impact through visuals, reflections, and student reflections. Participants will identify at least 3 key strategies for integrating robust, community-engaged experiential learning for medical students aboard mobile health clinics. These include program development, multistakeholder engagement, accreditation, engaging senior medical students, developing learning modules, and creating opportunities for student reflection. Participants will understand how mobile clinics can develop cross-sector partnerships including with community organizations, medical institutions, hospitals, community leaders.