Assessment of the compliance of problem-based learning case scenarios with the social accountability values in undergraduate medical education curriculum

Purpose: To assess the integration of Social Accountability (SA) values in newly developed problem-based learning(PBL) case scenarios.

Method: A validated " SA inventory for PBL” was used to assess the integration of SA values; relevance; quality; equity; cost-effectiveness in PBL case scenarios in a problem-based learning (PBL) medical curriculum.

Results: Of the 63 PBL cases scenarios, in the relevancy domain, there were 52 cases (82.5%) that were relevant to social health concerns, 30 cases (47.6%) which addressed more than one social determinant of health, and 21 cases (33.3%) which addressed the principles of health promotion. In the equity domain, 61 (98.4%) and 62 (96.8%) of cases addressed the patient's gender and age group respectively, 28 cases (44.4%) which addressed the society's underserved, disadvantaged, and vulnerable populations, and only 3 cases (4.8%) addressing the patient's ethnicity. In the cost-effectiveness domain, 40 out of 63 case scenarios (63.5%) needed modifications to address treatment costs and providing alternatives. In the quality domain, 65.1% of cases (41 out of 63) needed modifications to address the concept of person-centered healthcare.

Discussion: Adapting and utilizing a validated inventory to evaluate values related to SA is a useful educational practice for informing medical educators’ leaders to develop a socially accountable PBL medical curriculum. These findings could be useful to adjust curricula content to prepare the next generation of doctors who can meet societal needs.