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Cultural Sensitivity and Learning About Healthcare Equity for the Underserved: Experiential Learning in a Student-Run Free Clinic

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Abstract

With increased diversity in the USA comes a growing need to educate medical students on how best to manage diverse patient populations. Medical students on the board of a student-run free clinic (SRFC) were surveyed to determine how such a leadership experience might alter students’ cultural sensitivity as it relates to healthcare equity. Forty-six students (42.2% response) reported their experiences helped them better understand patient’s needs (4.37, 0.64; mean, SD), cultural barriers (4.44, 0.55), and racial/ethnic disparities (4.27, 0.70). Thus, service on the board of a SRFC improves cultural sensitivity.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author, M.P., on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the KNIGHTS clinic research group for their contribution to the development, validation and deployment of the survey. We also would like to thank the student board members of the KNIGHTS clinic for their dedication to underserved medical care and leadership.

Funding

Funding for the KNIGHTS Clinic at UCF College of Medicine is provided by the Diebel Legacy Fund at the Central Florida Foundation.

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Author notes

  1. Katie Ballantyne and Katherine R. Porter contributed equally to this work and co-first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Education, University of Central Florida College of Medicine, Orlando, USA

    Katie Ballantyne, Katherine R. Porter, Kristijan Bogdanovski, Spencer Lessans & Magdalena Pasarica

Authors
  1. Katie Ballantyne
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  2. Katherine R. Porter
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  3. Kristijan Bogdanovski
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  4. Spencer Lessans
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Contributions

M.P. devised the project and collected the data. K.B., K.P., K.B., and S.L. each contributed substantially to data analysis and interpretation. All the authors discussed the results and contributed to the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Magdalena Pasarica.

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The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest

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Ballantyne, K., Porter, K.R., Bogdanovski, K. et al. Cultural Sensitivity and Learning About Healthcare Equity for the Underserved: Experiential Learning in a Student-Run Free Clinic. Med.Sci.Educ. 31, 381–385 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-021-01235-9

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