Classic Paper: community-campus partnerships for health professions education

Posted by on October 10, 2010

We’re thrilled to report that a 1998 paper service-learning in the health professions has been deemed a “classic” by the journal Academic Medicine (AM)!  AM Classics is a collection of papers published in Academic Medicine since 1990 that have been cited 50 or more times!

The definition and core concepts of service-learning provided in the paper has not only informed service-learning programs in health professional schools across the country, but it is also used by the accrediting body for medical schools (the Liaison Committee on Medical Education) in its accreditation standard that “An institution that offers a medical education program should make available sufficient opportunities for medical students to participate in service-learning activities and should encourage and support medical student participation.”

Below is the citation and abstract.  The full-text article is available for free at http://bit.ly/cPfDxt

Seifer SD.  Service-learning: community-campus partnerships for health professions education.  Academic Medicine. 73(3):273-7, March 1998.

Abstract

In 1995, the Health Professions Schools in Service to the Nation (HPSISN) program was launched under the auspices of the Pew Health Professions Commission as a national demonstration of an innovative form of community-based education called service-learning. The foundation of service-learning is a balanced partnership between communities and health professions schools and a balance between serving the community and meeting defined learning objectives. This article offers a definition of service-learning and an outline of its core concepts; it also describes how service-learning differs from traditional clinical education in the health professions. Further, the author discusses how service-learning programs may benefit students, faculty, communities, higher education institutions, and the relationships among all these stakeholders. The article concludes with brief descriptions of recommended resources for integrating service-learning into the medical school curriculum.