It’s “not black and white”: Students’ perceptions of “altruism” content in preclinical medical education

Abstract

Objective

This study investigated how students as stakeholders viewed behavioral and social science (BSS) content in a preclinical longitudinal course entitled “Medicine, Body, and Society” (MBS) at UT Health San Antonio Long School of Medicine (LSOM). We present students’ perceptions of successes and challenges tied to “altruism” and other non-biomedical objectives outlined by this institution.

Methods

We conducted a qualitative thematic analysis of MBS course evaluation data. Two researchers independently performed initial coding followed by interrater reliability checks to revise codes and a final MAXQDA lexical search to refine three themes.

Results

Three major themes emerged: (1) Students shared pedagogical preferences strongly favoring stories. (2) Students detected deficits in the module content tied to identities. (3) Students labelled BSS content as “soft,” “subjective,” and “siloed” which confounded its role in the course.

Conclusions

Advancing altruism aligned with BSS content in preclinical medical education remains a challenge. A closer review of student evaluations framed as learner-centeredness is key to a greater understanding and resolution of competency issues in preclinical curriculum and its impact on mastery in subsequent clinical education and practice.

Keywords:

• Feedback
• behavioral and social sciences
• undergraduate
• altruism

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Janet S. Armitage

Janet S. Armitage, PhD, MBA is Professor and Chair of Sociology at St. Mary’s University.

Sue P. Nash

Sue P. Nash, PhD, MPH is Associate Professor of Sociology at St. Mary’s University.

Joshua T. Hanson

Joshua T. Hanson, M.D., MPH, MBA is Associate Professor of General and Hospital Medicine and Associate Dean for Student Affairs (LSOM).