title: Implementation and evaluation of an undergraduate Sociocultural Medicine Program.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To demonstrate an effective model for designing, implementing, and evaluating the Sociocultural Medicine Program (SMP), part of a comprehensive sociocultural medicine curriculum at the University of Michigan Medical School.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study followed a cross-sectional, pre- and post-intervention survey design. A total of 167 medical students completed a measure of attitudes toward sociocultural issues in medicine prior to and following participation in the SMP. Students' attitudes were assessed in the domains of "exposure to sociocultural issues," "sociocultural factors in clinical scenarios," and "sociocultural background in patient/physician/health status issues."
  
  
  RESULTS
  Paired t-tests of the pre- and post-intervention responses revealed significant positive changes for items in the domain of exposure to sociocultural issues in medicine: experience with sociocultural issues in a clinical setting (p <.01), understanding of relationship among sociocultural background, health, and medicine (p <.001), and importance of sociocultural background in students' future patient populations (p <.01). Significant changes were also found for the impact of sociocultural background in patient/physician/health status issues: physician-patient relationship (p <.001) and patients' health behavior (p <.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SMP had a significant educational impact on students' attitudes towards sociocultural issues in medicine. Students reported greater exposure to these issues conceptually and clinically, and greater influence of sociocultural factors in patients' behaviors and patient- physician relationships. Critical components of this SMP were faculty development, multiple teaching approaches, and pre- and post-intervention evaluation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Education, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor 48109, USA. tangts@umich.edu
authors.forename: Tricia S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Joseph C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Fantone
authors.forename: Mary Ellen A
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Bozynski
authors.forename: Barbara S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Adams
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003479:Curriculum; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008824:Michigan; D017145:Models, Educational; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D016730:Program Development / Q000379:methods; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods; D012962:Sociology, Medical / Q000193:education*; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*