Social Accountability and Regional Health Priorities in Medical Education

Social accountability in medical education refers to the commitment of medical schools to address priority health concerns of the community. Over a 2-year period, 200 Family Medicine clerkship students ranked the topics most emphasized in the first 2 years of medical school. These rankings did not align with the community health priorities of the region in which the medical school is located. While the basic science and introductory clinical material covered early in medical school is necessary, our data suggest that emphasizing the implications of this foundational curricula for addressing the regions’ health priorities is worthy of greater consideration.