Compassion in Medicine Elective
Learning Objectives
PopHealth 8: Health Disparities
Session Objectives:
 Describe the epidemiology of health disparities in the United States
 Explain the underlying causes for health disparities
 Implement strategies for reducing health disparities in the healthcare system
PopHealth 1: Overview
Session Objectives:
1. Understand organization and goals of course
2. Become familiar with resources for keeping up with the literature
3. Define population health
4. Understand why population health skills are important to the practicing clinician
5. Understand the variety of roles that physicians can play in population health
PopHealth 3 Health Reporting
Session Objectives:
1. Explain the process for reporting communicable diseases to local public health authorities
2. Correctly fill out a death certificate
3. Understand the role of the local public health system in preventing transmission of
communicable disease, including outbreak investigation and contact tracing/notification
4. Describe how vital statistics can be used to inform patient care
5. Locate and review local or state-level health statistics for the geographic area in which you
are completing a clinical rotation
PopHealth 4: High Value Care
Session Objectives:
1. Define the term “High Value Care”
2. Explain the rationale for efforts to improve the value of services provided in health care
3. Employ communication strategies to help patients understand the reasoning behind
foregoing certain tests or services that do not represent high value care
PopHealth 6: Healthcare Finance and Insurance
Session Objectives:
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Describe the public and private insurance options available to individuals in the US and
how eligibility for those insurance options is determined
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Explain the impact that insurance status has on the care of individual patients
encountered during trimester rotations
Describe what is covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance with regard to
long-term care, rehabilitation services, home health services, and the impact health
insurance coverage has on care transitions
Discuss with patients how their insurance status has an impact on their ability to access
health care services
From Article:
Learning Objectives:
1. Students will discuss the historical values and attributes of physicians and the practice of
medicine as presented in professional oaths and charters.
2. Students will explain the inherently moral nature of the physician–patient relationship.
3. Students will compare and contrast what “personalized medicine” means to physicians
and what it means to patients and will discuss the importance of both.
4. Students will apply concepts of the nonbiologic determinants of health in determining
relative outcome and risk in different patients with the same disease.
5. Students will discuss the concept of health equity and relate it to health equality and
equal access to health care.
6. Students will discuss the tensions that exist between concerns for health equity and
responsibilities to individual patients.
7. Students will analyze health care system contributions to health disparities, including
access and provider bias in the treatment of patients with the same disease.
8. Students will articulate their thoughts in considering the role of the medical profession
in addressing issues of equity and disparity.
9. Students will discuss the evolution of the U.S. health care system.
10. Students will explain how different health insurance plans influence the treatment of
patients with similar diseases.
11. Students will outline how microsystems can facilitate or hinder effective and efficient
delivery of care.
12. Students will discuss the importance of advocacy on behalf of their patients and reflect
on this as part of the work of the physician.
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