Open AccessTraining Physician Assistant Students to Provide Evidence-Based, Holistic, Patient-Driven Care: a Novel Curriculum
Author(s) -
Edward M. Phillips,
Susan M. McGlynn,
David R. Topor,
Claire M Stauffer
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
medical science educator
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 13
ISSN - 2156-8650
DOI - 10.1007/s40670-020-01150-5
Subject(s) - lifestyle medicine , curriculum , health care , medical education , medicine , primary care , preventive healthcare , alternative medicine , family medicine , psychology , nursing , public health , pedagogy , pathology , economics , economic growth
Lifestyle and behavior modifications are the primary preventative strategies to mitigate the growing morbidity, mortality, and cost of chronic disease in the USA (Trilk et al., American Journal of Preventive Medicine 56:e169-e175, 2019); hence, there have been multiple calls to train all healthcare professionals in lifestyle medicine (LM). This paper describes and evaluates the implementation of a novel Whole Health/lifestyle medicine (WH-LM) education initiative for physician assistant (PA) students embedded within a clinical rotation at the VA Boston Healthcare System (VABHS). Students demonstrated increased knowledge of WH-LM principles and increased self-efficacy in utilizing these principles following training.