Empowering Future Physicians: The Role of Structural Competency Education to Improve Patient Care and Prevent Burnout

Purpose : Medical education falls short of training students to understand and act upon systems that shape patients ’ health. Physicians consistently report the importance of addressing social issues in medicine, while at the same time express a lack of con fi dence in their ability to meet their patients ' social and emotional needs, leading to burnout in the face of these challenges. Method : We implemented a six-week structural competency curriculum with 120 fourth-year medical students at The University of Queensland Medical School - Ochsner Clinical School (UQ-OCS) in New Orleans, LA, from January to November 2021. We assessed knowledge, attitude, awareness, and skill using the Clinical Cultural Competency Questionnaire at three points: before, immediately after, and two years post-intervention. Qualitative Peer Led Teaching & Learning Closure Activity involved written re fl ections analyzed using thematic analysis. Results : Signi fi cant improvements were observed in knowledge (p < 0.0001), attitude (p < 0.0011), awareness (p < 0.0066), and skill (p < 0.0001) immediately post-intervention. Two years later, medical residents showed sustained improvement in knowledge, however response rate was low. Qualitative analysis revealed themes including preventing burnout (68 %), improved patient care (68 %), empathy/reduced frustration (68 %), empower to advocate (64 %), and shared language/improved communication with peers (23 %). Conclusions : This study is the fi rst longitudinal demonstration of the impact of a structural competency curriculum on medical education and subsequent residency practice. Healthcare professionals must grasp the political, economic, and social factors affecting patient care. Integration of this curriculum at UQ-OCS effectively trained students in structural competency and enhanced its application in clinical settings. Institutions lacking such curriculum can use this model for implementation