Anatomy Academy promotes Systems‐Based Practice among medical and undergraduate students

Abstract

Systems‐Based Practice (SBP) is difficult to define and successfully incorporate into medical education. Nonetheless, it is one of the six Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) core competencies that physicians are to attain. Competency in SBP includes understanding of the health system to allow adequate assessment and improvement of the quality of patient care and patient safety. Anatomy Academy (AA) provides a setting where UCLA medical and undergraduate students enter the community to teach fifth graders complex health concepts. Students are encouraged to compliment their pathophysiology and diagnostic training with active practice in communication, program assessment, conflict resolution, and problem solving as they teach complex medical concepts such as problematic cardiac blood flow, lung disease, and gastrointestinal function. Written reflections, program‐ and self‐evaluations suggest that AA provided opportunities to gain basic SBP skills such as improved conflict management and problem solving. Community programs such as AA can contribute to medical education curriculum by allowing early medical student exposure to SBP.Grant Funding Source: Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, UCLA Monica Salinas Fellowship