title: The Medical-Legal Partnership Approach to Teaching Social Determinants of Health and Structural Competency in Residency Programs.
abstract: Medical-legal partnerships (MLPs) embed civil legal services lawyers into health care settings and interprofessional health care teams delivering care to low-income or otherwise vulnerable patients and communities. MLPs present the opportunity to instill in residents a practical understanding of the social determinants of health and provide them with concrete tools to address them. MLP training helps residents develop structural competency and build the skills necessary to address barriers to health at the patient, institutional, and population levels. Through a case study, this Perspective explores how residents can address health-harming legal needs working in partnership with interprofessional health care teams that include lawyers, and illustrates how such MLP experiences can relate to competency-based Milestones that are applicable to training residents in all specialties.
authors.affiliation: E.G. Paul is academic chair, Department of Family Medicine, St. Joseph's Hospital & Medical Center/Dignity Health, Phoenix, Arizona.M. Curran is a consultant who specializes in medical-legal partnership, including with the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership, Department of Health Policy and Management, George Washington University, Washington, DC.E. Tobin Tyler is assistant professor of family medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and assistant professor of health services, policy and practice, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island. The author also serves as a consultant to the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership, Department of Health Policy and Management, George Washington University, Washington, DC.
authors.forename: Edward G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.forename: Mallory
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Curran
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tobin Tyler
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000592:standards*; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D033241:Lawyers / Q000523:psychology*; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D011203:Poverty / Q000523:psychology; D011361:Professional Competence / Q000592:standards*; D055818:Public-Private Sector Partnerships; D064890:Social Determinants of Health / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States; D035862:Vulnerable Populations / Q000523:psychology