2010; 32: 905–911 Nurturing social responsibility through community service-learning: Lessons learned from a pilot project SHAFIK DHARAMSI 1 , NANCY ESPINOZA 1 , CARL CRAMER 1 , MARYAM AMIN 2 , LESLEY BAINBRIDGE 1 & GARY POOLE 1 1 The University of British Columbia, Canada, 2 The University of Alberta, Canada Abstract Background: Community service-learning (CSL) has been proposed as one way to enrich medical and dental students’ sense of social responsibility toward people who are marginalized in society. Aim: We developed and implemented a new CSL option in the integrated medical/dental curriculum and assessed its educational impact. Methods: Focus groups, individual open-ended interviews, and a survey were used to assess dental students’, faculty tutors’ and community partners’ experiences with CSL. Results: CSL enabled a deeper appreciation for the vulnerabilities that people who are marginalized experience; students gained a greater insight into the social determinants of health and the related importance of community engagement; and they developed useful skills in health promotion project planning, implementation and evaluation. Community partners and faculty tutors indicated that equal partnership, greater collaboration, and a participatory approach to course development are essential to sustainability in CSL. Conclusions: CSL can play an important role in nurturing a purposeful sense of social responsibility among future practitioners. Our study enabled the implementation of an innovative longitudinal course ( professionalism and community service) in all 4 years of the dental curriculum. Introduction Service-learning has generally been proposed as a way of sensitizing future health professionals to health disparities and the needs of vulnerable populations (Seifer 1998; Kahne & Westheimer 2001; Brill et al. 2002; Haq et al. 2002; Mayne & Glascoff 2002). As a result, the Committee on the Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS) and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) in the United States officially adopted a new accreditation standard that requires medical schools in North America to offer service- learning activities to medical students. The new standard took effect on July 1, 2008. Dental schools in North America, however, are not obligated to offer service-learning as part of program accreditation requirements. Nevertheless, there is a growing interest in dentistry to use community service-learning (CSL) as a pedagogical tool for preparing students to be community and socially responsive (Rubin 2004; Dharamsi 2006; Graham 2006; Harrison et al. 2006; Yoder 2006; Hryhorczuk et al. 2008). This article reports on a study of dental students’, faculty tutors’ and community partners’ experiences and perspectives on the educational impact of a pilot CSL initiative introduced to foster a better understanding of the social determinants of health and ways of addressing related health disparities. Background The first 2 years of the Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) programs at the University of British Columbia (UBC) are integrated. Medical and dental students are taught together using a hybrid problem-based learning curriculum (Broudo & Walsh 2002). The hybrid model enables a range of teaching and learning strategies including lectures, cases, seminars and student led projects. Just over a decade Practice points . CSL is becoming an increasingly common pedagogical tool for preparing students in the health professions to be community and socially responsive. . CSL can enable a deeper appreciation among future health practitioners of the vulnerabilities that marginal- ized segments of the population experience. . Critical, structured reflection in CSL can enable students to challenge their taken-for-granted assumptions about vulnerable communities. . Participatory approaches to curricular development can create an inclusive, enabling and empowering learning environment. Correspondence: S. Dharamsi, The University of British Columbia, 300-5950 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada. Tel: 1 604 8274397; fax: 604 8226950; email: shafik.dharamsi@familymed.ubc.ca ISSN 0142–159X print/ISSN 1466–187X online/10/110905–7 ß 2010 Informa UK Ltd. 905 DOI: 10.3109/01421590903434169 Med Teach Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by University of British Columbia on 11/04/10 For personal use only.