SERVICE- LEARNING IS A TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGY THAT INTEGRATES MEANINGFUL COMMUNITY SERVICE WITH INSTRUCTION AND REFLECTION TO ENRICH THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE, TEACH CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY, AND STRENGTHEN COMMUNICATION.

(from http://educationprogram.duke.edu/service-learning)

     LCME standard IS-14-A

Medical schools should make available sufficient opportunity for medical students to participate in service-learning activities and should encourage and support student participation.                                                                          

Research question

  The impact of longitudinal programs on student attitudes toward primary care is unclear.We asked "What is the impact of an extracurricular service learning opportunity on attitudes toward primary care, self-efficacy working with the underserved, and  career plans?"

ECC--Einstein Cares for the Community                                          a 3-year funded HRSA/ARRA grant

          ECC Goals

Create longitudinal partnerships with community-based organizations

·  Improve students’ attitudes toward working with community groups

·   Increase students’ self-efficacy in providing care for underserved

·   Foster students’ interest in primary care

  ECC program study design

Students volunteer to participate in a semi structured, mentored service –learning experience in Bronx.

Students were surveyed at the start of the year and at the end.

Primary Care and

Community Engagement Survey

Validated 2011

Administered to ECC participants and controls in Sept 2011 and May 2012

Intervention group—MS1 & MS2 students in the ECC program

Control Group—MS1 students who expressed interest in ECC but did not join

Thanks to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the departments of Family Medicine, Pediatrics and Internal Medicine, and Montefiore and Jacobi Hospitals