It's in Our Lane: A Firearm Injury Prevention Clinical and Policy Advocacy Skill Development Session for Medical Students.

Abstract

The U.S. firearm injury epidemic has prompted calls for physicians to intervene through patient counseling and policy advocacy. However, few physicians engage in firearm injury prevention (FIP) efforts, likely because few receive training. In collaboration with public health professionals, we developed and implemented an innovative session to improve medical students' perceived knowledge, confidence, and intention to engage in FIP efforts. We integrated the 2-h session into existing second-year medical student curriculum at Oregon's only academic medical center. The session included three components: (1) didactics outlining firearm injury epidemiology and evidence-based clinical and policy interventions, (2) facilitated small-group discussions, and (3) role-playing to practice clinical and policy advocacy skills. A retrospective pre-post survey (response rate 71.4%, n = 105) revealed statistically significant increases for all study variables between pre- and post-periods (p < 0.001). Approximately half of respondents (48.6%) had at least some experience with firearms, including having a family or cultural background involving firearms. Respondents viewed FIP education as timely, educationally valuable, and important to their future practice. This innovative care delivery session appears to have increased medical students' perceived knowledge, confidence, and intention to engage in FIP efforts.