Proposing the Community Triad Model to action social accountability in medical schools

Abstract

This article is the third in a series exploring drivers of social accountability (SA) in medical schools across Canada. Findings from the two previous articles have highlighted a central relationship between community, students, and faculty at medical schools, and led to the emergence of a new social accountability model– the Community Triad Model (CTM). The CTM proposes an interconnectedness between community, students, faculty, and the broader institution, and the pathways through which community-based learning directly and indirectly influences decision-making in medical institutions. This article explores the relationships between the three arms of the CTM by examining the literature on community engagement and SA, as well as by revisiting popular models and foundational SA reports to garner insights into authentic community engagement in health professions education. While there is an abundance of literature demonstrating the impact of community placements on students, there are limited studies describing the influence of communities on faculty and the broader institution either directly, or indirectly via students. The authors recommend that institutions be more intentional in engaging students and faculty, and learn from their experiences with community to shape curriculum, practices, policies, and culture of the broader institution. This study offers an operational model of SA that is easy to adopt and implement. It intends to demonstrate how the components of the triad (students, faculty/leadership, community) function together in the community engagement and social accountability of medical schools.

Keywords:

• Social accountability
• community placements
• medical education
• power dynamics
• medical students
• relationships
• change agents

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

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

Notes on contributors

Harini Aiyer

Harini Aiyer, MHS PhD, Community Health & Epidemiology, completed her PhD with a focus on socially accountable medical education. Her research examines the areas of health equity, anti-oppressive methodologies, global health, and health professions education.

Erin Walling

Erin Walling, MSc, Community Health & Epidemiology, is the Social Accountability Strategist for the College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan. Erin has extensive experience working collaboratively with provincial and national partners in health care improvement, policy development, and strategic planning. She is passionate about result-driven planning and improvement in healthcare.

Lisa Yeo

Lisa Yeo, MA, Sociology, is a Governance and Engagement Manager at the Indigenous, Local & Global Health Office, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Canada. Her interests include health equity, social determinants of health, social networks, social accountability, evaluation methodologies, and community engagement.

Robert Woollard

Robert Woollard, MD, CCFP, FCFP, LM, is Professor of Family Medicine at the University of British Columbia, Canada. He has extensive national and international experience in the fields of medical education, the social accountability of medical schools, ecosystem approaches to health, and sustainable development.