Perceived Benefits of Training Clinicians in Community Engagement for a Leadership Development Program

Abstract

Community engagement (CE), including community-engaged research, is a critical tool for improving the health of patients and communities, but is not taught in most medical curricula, and is even rarer in leadership training for practicing clinicians. With the growth of value-based care and increasing concern for health equity, we need to turn our attention to the benefits of working with communities to improve health and health care. The objective of this brief report is to increase understanding of the perceived benefits of CE training for primary care clinicians, specifically those already working. We assessed perceived benefits of CE training for primary care clinicians participating in health care transformation leadership training through analysis of learner reflection papers. Clinicians (n=12) reported transformational learning and critical shifts of perspective. Not only did they come to value and understand CE, but the training changed their perception of their roles as clinicians and leaders. Educating primary care clinicians in CE as a foundational principle can orient them to the criticality of stakeholder engagement for daily practice, practice transformation, and population health improvement, and provides them with a new understanding of their roles as clinicians and leaders.