A qualitative study of social accountability translation: from mission to living it
Abstract Background Medical schools are increasingly adopting socially accountable mission and curricula, the realisation of which are dependent on engaging individuals to embody the mission’s principles in their everyday activities as doctors. However, little is known about how graduates perceive t...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2024-02-01
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| Series: | BMC Medical Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05093-y |
| _version_ | 1827327102827888640 |
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| author | Jennifer Cleland Anand Zachariah Sarah David Anna Pulimood Amudha Poobalan |
| author_facet | Jennifer Cleland Anand Zachariah Sarah David Anna Pulimood Amudha Poobalan |
| author_sort | Jennifer Cleland |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Medical schools are increasingly adopting socially accountable mission and curricula, the realisation of which are dependent on engaging individuals to embody the mission’s principles in their everyday activities as doctors. However, little is known about how graduates perceive the efforts taken by their medical school to sensitise them to social accountability values, and how they translate this into their working lives. Our aim was to explore and understand graduate perceptions of how their medical school influenced them to embody a social accountability mission in their working lives. Methods This was a qualitative interview study carried out with graduates/alumni [n = 51] of Christian Medical College, Vellore [CMCV], India, a school with a long-established and explicit social-accountability mission. Data coding and analysis were initially inductive and thematic using Braun and Clarke’s six step framework. MacIntyre’s virtue ethics theory framed secondary analysis, allowing us to consider the relationships between individual and contextual factors. Results Our participants perceived that CMCV invested heavily in selecting personal qualities aligned with the CMCV mission. They saw that these qualities were reinforced through various practices: [e.g., placements in resource limited and/or remote and rural settings]; community engagement and expectations [e.g., student self-governance]; role modelling [staff and more senior students]. Much emphasis was placed on sustaining these traditions and practices over time, creating a strong sense of identity and belonging among participants, traditions which were fostered further by the alumni network and continued engagement with CMCV post-graduation. Conclusions Ensuring social accountable medical education depends on alignment and interactions over time between context and structures, systems and human agents. Further studies are needed to extend understanding of how students from diverse contexts experience socially accountable medical education and translate their educational experience into their thinking and practice after graduation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T14:55:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-25604ddbb77b4ed9b4b837a98758bbe9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1472-6920 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T14:55:12Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Medical Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-25604ddbb77b4ed9b4b837a98758bbe92024-03-05T19:27:15ZengBMCBMC Medical Education1472-69202024-02-012411810.1186/s12909-024-05093-yA qualitative study of social accountability translation: from mission to living itJennifer Cleland0Anand Zachariah1Sarah David2Anna Pulimood3Amudha Poobalan4Medical Education Research and Scholarship Unit, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological UniversityChristian Medical College, M.G.R Medical UniversityChristian Medical College, M.G.R Medical UniversityChristian Medical College, M.G.R Medical UniversitySchool of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, University of AberdeenAbstract Background Medical schools are increasingly adopting socially accountable mission and curricula, the realisation of which are dependent on engaging individuals to embody the mission’s principles in their everyday activities as doctors. However, little is known about how graduates perceive the efforts taken by their medical school to sensitise them to social accountability values, and how they translate this into their working lives. Our aim was to explore and understand graduate perceptions of how their medical school influenced them to embody a social accountability mission in their working lives. Methods This was a qualitative interview study carried out with graduates/alumni [n = 51] of Christian Medical College, Vellore [CMCV], India, a school with a long-established and explicit social-accountability mission. Data coding and analysis were initially inductive and thematic using Braun and Clarke’s six step framework. MacIntyre’s virtue ethics theory framed secondary analysis, allowing us to consider the relationships between individual and contextual factors. Results Our participants perceived that CMCV invested heavily in selecting personal qualities aligned with the CMCV mission. They saw that these qualities were reinforced through various practices: [e.g., placements in resource limited and/or remote and rural settings]; community engagement and expectations [e.g., student self-governance]; role modelling [staff and more senior students]. Much emphasis was placed on sustaining these traditions and practices over time, creating a strong sense of identity and belonging among participants, traditions which were fostered further by the alumni network and continued engagement with CMCV post-graduation. Conclusions Ensuring social accountable medical education depends on alignment and interactions over time between context and structures, systems and human agents. Further studies are needed to extend understanding of how students from diverse contexts experience socially accountable medical education and translate their educational experience into their thinking and practice after graduation.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05093-ySocial accountabilityQualitative researchUnder-resourced setting |
| spellingShingle | Jennifer Cleland Anand Zachariah Sarah David Anna Pulimood Amudha Poobalan A qualitative study of social accountability translation: from mission to living it BMC Medical Education Social accountability Qualitative research Under-resourced setting |
| title | A qualitative study of social accountability translation: from mission to living it |
| title_full | A qualitative study of social accountability translation: from mission to living it |
| title_fullStr | A qualitative study of social accountability translation: from mission to living it |
| title_full_unstemmed | A qualitative study of social accountability translation: from mission to living it |
| title_short | A qualitative study of social accountability translation: from mission to living it |
| title_sort | qualitative study of social accountability translation from mission to living it |
| topic | Social accountability Qualitative research Under-resourced setting |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05093-y |
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