The University of Pennsylvania in Philidalphia is adding a course in empathy, service and homelessness to medical students' curriculum, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Here are three things to know:
1. In the two- or four-week elective class, third- and fourth-year students are apprenticed to community health workers and health educators, where they act as health liaisons to specific neighborhoods.
2. The course is designed to encourage these future physicians to know their patients outside of their medical offices.
3. The course also helps medical students learn how to address social health barriers and recognize health workers' expertise.
"It is increasingly clear that you need to teach medical students – and for that matter, nursing students – more than just the pathways of clinical medicine in order to be a good doctor," Shreya Kangovi, MD, an assistant professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania who developed the course, told U.S. News & World Report. "It's not just about genetics and biochemistry, but it's about the other competencies like cultural humility and good communication and patient engagement."
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