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Little Medical Education Focuses on Justice-Involved Populations

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Dec 20, 2024.

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Dec. 20, 2024 -- Little medical education exposes students to caring for justice-involved populations, according to a review published online Dec. 10 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Claire Stover, from the Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to understand the scope and context of medical education in correctional health care.

Based on 49 studies (highlighting 95 unique curricula), the researchers reported that curricula were evenly split between the undergraduate (44) and graduate (50) levels, with the two most represented specialties being psychiatry (43) and general medicine (30). Clinical rotation (48), didactics (14), or a combination (28) were the educational modalities used. Evidence showed curricula increased knowledge in correctional and specialty-specific medicine and improved attitudes toward justice-involved patients. Results showed no significant effect on plans to work with the justice-involved population. Common themes included treating justice-involved patients with respect (23), structure and function of the legal system (20), and career recruitment (16) across curricula.

"There is limited education on the care of the justice-involved population, and most learners are unlikely to experience education on this population during their training despite the extensive and unique health and psycho-social needs of this population," the authors write.

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Posted December 2024

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