Implementation and Outcomes of a Community Assessment Service-Learning Activity Within Academic Learning Communities

A community needs assessment and engagement activity was implemented in 2013 in the core preclinical curriculum as part of the doctoring course within Academic Communities at UC San Diego School of Medicine. This required educational experience included curricular learning objectives as well as goals to strengthen community service within academic communities. This activity was implemented and sustained within the academic communities with each community serving a different community of San Diego. Survey data from preclinical students from 2014 to 2017 consistently reported that the community assessment activity helped sustain or develop a service project in the academic community (67.1%-79.6% strongly agree or agree) and increased students’ knowledge of the needs in the assigned San Diego community (76.3%-80.6% strongly agree or agree). Students felt that the community assessment and engagement activity was a valuable learning experience (62.5%-77.8% strongly agree or agree). As a result of this educational intervention, 14 projects were implemented in the community. A subset of particularly interested and motivated medical students then took on leadership roles in these projects. Student-led scholarly assessment of the impact of some of these interventions resulted in 2 peer-reviewed publications thus far and 9 national presentations at the time of this publication. These assessments demonstrate not only educational impact, but health-system-level changes and meaningful change in patient outcomes.