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Advocacy tools Use these ideas for improving PH curriculum in your medical school: Identify the problem Most schools do have existing public health modules in the curriculum, so it is paramount to first uncover/identify what is missing or what needs to be improved. Does PH need more teaching hours? More Training in community settings? A change in educational strategies used? Identifying areas to work on is the first step. This can be done through informal discussions with the staff and/or students. Research Try creating and distributing a survey similar to the one we used to write this toolkit in your local institution. Ask medical students’ perception about your PH curriculum. This can help you identify areas to work on. Use the results for awareness campaigns with your peers in your universities, as well as for a high-level evidence-based advocacy campaign with your medical school authorities. A letter to your school administration Writing a formal letter to your dean of medicine (or whoever is in charge of creating your school’s PH curriculum) is a good step. Express your concerns and motives surrounding the gap you wish to address in the curriculum. Support your letter with facts eg: based on the survey held and personal experiences. You can also add that you are willing to meet in person to discuss room for improvement. We have created a template for you to use, see here.
students. Invite experts in PH and have your professors and lecturers attend. This can help to motivate and educate medical students into taking an interest in PH and subsequently your school may decide to hold such events on a regular basis. Need help on how to turn your idea into an activity ? Checkout this IFMSA manual here! Training It is possible to become a trainer through the IFMSA. There are many courses which relate to Public Health and Medical Education Advocacy, run by SCOME or SCOPH. Attend their certified training sessions which will enable you to facilitate your workshops in your own medical school and spread your knowledge, encouraging other students to be advocates too. It is important as a medical students to know about the stakes of Public Health and Medical Education, not only for individual purposes, but most importantly to have excellent background on the matter while advocating for it. National Policies on Public Health Education Aside from medical students, other stakeholders are also working towards improving Public Health in medical curriculum.Therefore, mapping these stakeholders and making sure to include your educational policy in their National Public Health Policy would strengthen the position of all parties towards achieving successful Public Health Advocacy. You can find here a manual explaining policy making and here is a list of distinguished stakeholders for PH in medical curriculum you can consider using:
Events
1. WFPHA: World Federation for Public Health Associations
Consider holding a campaign, panel discussion or seminars relating to PH education for medical
2. ASPHER: Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (WORK-
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International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA)