Engaging Medical Students to Reach Low Income/Minority Populations

Audience:

Program and policy staff responsible for implementing smoking cessation programs and/or eliminating secondhand smoke and for addressing the social and health consequences associated with tobacco use in low income populations.

Key Points:

In 2011, the American Medical Association trained 185 medical students volunteering in free clinics in Chicago.  These clinics included a diverse patient population. Students were trained to address language and cultural barriers.  

Every medical school is associated with free health clinics run by medical students.  These clinics serve low income, minority patient population.  The patients are often immigrants  with varying cultural perspectives about tobacco use. This is supported by several studies on immigrants in the US, tobacco use and availability of tobacco dependence education and intervention.

Medical students are an untapped resource and receptive to addressing tobacco use as part of their work at free clinics.

 Educational Experience:

The information will be presented as a case study and the audience will receive relevant handouts and a step-by-step road map for approaching medical students in their communities.

Benefits:

Medical students are encouraged by their professors to not only volunteer in the free clinics but to address public health issues at the community level.  It is difficult, given time constraints, for medical students to identify opportunities to civic public health engagements.

The benefit of this presentation to the largest tobacco control conference in the US is that it will reach organizations and individuals who can enhance their tobacco control efforts with this valuable human resource.