A socioscientific issues model for integration of the medical sciences, social sciences, and medical humanities

Abstract

As medical education embraces a competency‐based model, educators are challenged to reach beyond content‐centered instruction to encompass the human aspects of patient care, including ethics, communication, and understanding of social factors that influence health and disease. Authorities in medical education (AAMC, IOM) call for new ways to integrate social and behavioral sciences into curricula and to help students apply scientific knowledge to complex, multifaceted problems. Thus, we advance a socioscientific issues (SSI) framework, in which real‐life issues with both scientific and social aspects serve as interdisciplinary contexts for learning and problem solving. SSI have been established as effective contexts for enhancing students’ science content learning, motivation, decision‐making, and epistemological development. In this presentation we offer a shareable model for leveraging SSI in medical education. We provide an exemplar Team‐Based Learning (TBL) module on sickle cell disease, detailing its core competencies, such as knowledge of science content and social determinants of health, cultural competence, data analysis, and reflection. We will discuss the process of interdisciplinary module development as well as outcomes from implementation with second year medical students. Finally, we will provide practical implications for using an SSI framework in medical education.