title: Disparities education: what do students want?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Educating medical students about health disparities may be one step in diminishing the disparities in health among different populations. According to adult learning theory, learners' opinions are vital to the development of future curricula.
  
  
  METHODS
  Qualitative research using focus group methodology.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our objectives were to explore the content that learners value in a health disparities curriculum and how they would want such a curriculum to be taught.
  
  
  METHODS
  Study participants were first year medical students with an interest in health disparities (n = 17).
  
  
  METHODS
  Semi-structured interviews consisting of 12 predetermined questions, with follow-up and clarifying questions arising from the discussion. Using grounded theory, codes were initially developed by the team of investigators, applied, and validated through an iterative process.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The students perceived negative attitudes towards health disparities education as a potential barrier towards the development of a health disparities curriculum and proposed possible solutions. These solutions centered around the learning environment and skill building to combat health disparities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While many of the students' opinions were corroborated in the literature, the most striking differences were their opinions on how to develop good attitudes among the student body. Given the impact of the provider on health disparities, how to develop such attitudes is an important area for further research.
authors.affiliation: Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA. crrivera@montefiore.org
authors.forename: Cristina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: Jada
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bussey-Jones
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel / Q000208:ethnology*; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups / Q000379:methods; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult