Health inequalities within professional health education at the University of Malta

Abstract

Abstract Background Addressing health inequalities is a crucial public health issue. It is thus imperative that health professionals are equipped with explicit competences to recognise and address health inequalities. Methods This is a multi-phase mixed-methods study exploring health inequalities and training within professional health curricula at the University of Malta. Phase One consists of a scoping study which explores whether and how health inequalities feature within the health professions' undergraduate curricula. This involved a systematic search of undergraduate health professional curricula, including competency profiles in each programme of study, using information available in the public domain. Academic year reviewed was 2019-2020. To ensure harmonisation, the two independent reviewers used the following search strategy: a) using a keyword descriptive approach (MeSH terms divided into two levels: direct, level one, and more general keywords, level two) and b) a more subjective approach to assess wider topic elements. Results Preliminary results emanating from mapping of 19 different programmes of study will be presented. A wide range of occurrences, from zero occurrences in some programmes to a maximum of one occurrence for level one and 12 for level two keywords in other programmes, was observed. Conclusions There is a wide disparity between the awareness of and training of inequalities across different professional training programmes. This provides the groundwork for Phase Two of this research during which public health stakeholders' attitudes and perceptions on health professional training and current practices will be explored. Findings from this study will provide the evidence and the impetus for possible interdisciplinary modules and/or continuous professional development programmes in health inequalities. Key messages The need for developing short courses/reviewing health curricula to incorporate health inequalities is encouraged. Public health professionals have a responsibility to address health inequalities in their professional practice.