U.S. medical students, residents receive limited training on treating current and formerly incarcerated
Boston University School of Medicine
(Boston)— Nearly 2 million Americans currently reside in jails or prisons, and another 4 million are involved in the criminal legal system under forms of community supervision such as parole and probation. There is a link between incarceration and chronic health issues. The justice-involved population faces significant chronic health conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, and are more likely to have cancer, infectious diseases, and substance use disorders. Approximately 95% of those incarcerated will return to the community, but are medical providers prepared to serve them?
A new study from Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine finds medical students and residents, nationally, are not being taught to care for the incarcerated or formerly incarcerated despite the millions of potential affected patients.
“Most are not aware of just how many people are impacted by the criminal justice system—millions reside in jails and prisons and many more are on probation and parole, all of which adversely affect health. We’re also now finding out that having a family member who is incarcerated can detrimentally affect one’s own health and that’s almost half of all adults in the U.S. and yet doctors are not learning about any of this,” explains corresponding author Nicole Mushero, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at the school.
To understand the scope and context of medical education in correctional healthcare, the researchers reviewed the literature to see how many published teaching curricula included education on people affected by incarceration. While they found social determinants of health education has increased in recent years, only a quarter of doctors graduated with any training to care for this population.
According to the researchers, this study suggests medical schools need to do a better job of teaching doctors about the health effects of incarceration both on the people who were in jails and prisons and their family members. “At BU, all medical students receive instruction on the care of incarcerated patients during their third-year medicine clerkship and we are now piloting a longitudinal curriculum to train our future doctors in the care of incarcerated or formerly incarcerated patients,” adds Mushero, who also is a geriatrician at Boston Medical Center.
These findings appear online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Funding Nicole Mushero K0149060. This publication is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Journal
Journal of General Internal Medicine
Method of Research
Literature review
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
The State of Medical Education on Criminal Justice Health: A Systematic Review
Article Publication Date
10-Dec-2024
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