Our Medical program seeks as part of its curriculum to educate and develop doctors who understand that health and disease are not merely concerns of the individual patient, but that of his or her family and the community as well, and of society in general.
There is clear evidence linking socio-economic injustices and poor health status. The less advantaged are particularly vulnerable to minor stressors and significant life events. Sadly, contemporary society tends to treat such people as “problems” to be managed instead of attacking the root causes in order to strategise alleviation.
Such a management approach can only provide short term solutions. A commitment to social justice would mean advocating for changes in policy, health service delivery, and social conditions to aid those most vulnerable in any community. To this end, there is an imperative for informed participation by the medical profession and the general public in order to advance these changes.
While these attributes are addressed in various teaching and learning activities across the entire medical curriculum at the Monash University Sunway Campus, it is through the Community Based Practice (CBP) Program in the second year that medical students have the unique opportunity to explore community responses to issues of social justice.
This program encourages students to reflect on their own attitudes and behaviours towards such issues, and relate them to an evolving understanding of the relationship between medicine, medical professionalism and social justice. The CBP program encourages students to examine their own knowledge, values and skills in relation to the impact of political, social, and economic determinants on people’s lives.
It helps to enhance students’ understanding of the use of contemporary approaches in health service delivery, and provides an opportunity to explore alternative strategies to improve the health and well-being of their patients in their future medical practice.
Read more please click to this link – http://www.med.monash.edu.my/cbp/