Last winter and spring, medical students Michael Smith (IMP Class of 2026, pictured right) and Derek Anderson (Vancouver Fraser Medical Program Class of 2026, pictured left) hosted a series of online public health education lectures called Mini Med School (MMS). With a target audience of people aged 55 and older, the series covered a range of well-researched topics from current events to common health conditions. These included accessing a family doctor in BC to the new 2023 Canadian alcohol use guidelines. Following each live lecture, audience members also had the opportunity to participate in a Q&A session.
One of the main goals of MMS is to answer general healthcare questions. To evaluate how effectively their lecture series did this, Michael and Derek asked participants to take part in an optional research study.
Understanding if MMS can answer questions and increase public health knowledge is especially important given the current public health climate, the students say. An estimated 12 per cent of Canadians do not have access to a primary care provider that can answer their healthcare questions. That number is higher in British Columbia, where 17 per cent – more than 700,000 people – lack primary care access. These healthcare questions can range from specific personal inquiries to general medical knowledge requests, with the latter requiring similar or even more provider time and resources to answer appropriately. In a 2024 survey of 2,500 Canadian adults, the Canadian Medical Association found that there are significant differences in the trustworthiness and reliability of different formal and informal sources of medical information. This has led to real negative health consequences, with 40 per cent of respondents indicating that misinformation contributed to mental distress or increased anxiety and 35 per cent indicating it resulted in a delay in seeking appropriate medical care or treatment.
To conduct their research, Michael and Derek sent out a survey prior to their MMS lectures that asked participants about their existing knowledge of the presentation topics and for any questions they may have on those topics. After each lecture, the students sent another survey asking participants about how well the lecture answered their questions and how satisfied they were with the talks on a 5-point Likert scale.
In analyzing the data, Michael and Derek found that positive results:
- 82.1% indicated they strongly or somewhat agreed that the lecture was an effective method for answering participant questions,
- 76.8% of responses agreed that the information presented in the lecture answered their questions about the topic, and
- 87.5% agreed that they were satisfied with the quality of the lecture presentation.
Participants were also able to leave written comments about the series’ usefulness in answering general health questions, virtual delivery, and accessibility of this lecture series. The comments were also largely positive, with participants saying:
- “Overall a great learning opportunity for me. Accessible health education for the win.”
- “I think the format and content is appropriately broad and of interest to many … individuals have particular questions and situations that require more specific information and/or interventions.”
- “I love the Zoom delivery and the Saturday morning time. I would also attend these in person.”
- “Great method of distributing medical information. I learned lots!”
It is important to mention that participants needed to attend at least four lectures to be included in the research. This was necessary for a robust results analysis, Michael and Derek say. As most participants attended one to three lectures each, only 33 participants provided data for the research results above. Michael and Derek say the lectures overall had lower-than-expected turnout, and they believe that Zoom fatigue is likely a contributing factor to engagement. Despite this, the students feel that it is still important to communicate their findings to demonstrate the impact of the lecture series and to help inform future iterations of the MMS.
“We know already from previous years’ students that MMS has been shown to be an effective intervention in increasing participant health literacy and virtual connectedness during COVID. In our ongoing investigation of the utility of MMS in public health education, it’s important to respond to attendance and feedback to ensure participant satisfaction and robust survey outcomes for reporting,” says Michael. “Our advice for future iterations is to offer MMS as a hybrid in-person program with available online participation while integrating community physicians and experts to incentivize in-person attendance.”
Now that their series and research are complete, Michael and Derek are ready to pass the MMS torch to new students. They encourage others to get involved as a way to practice engaging with the local community in public health education initiatives and to develop presentation communication skills.
“From researching the topics, creating the slides, rehearsing the lecture with Dr. Gair before each lecture, presenting the topic, and reflecting on the feedback I was given, I gained great insight and confidence in my abilities to communicate medical knowledge to the public,” says Michael.
“I chose Mini Med School as my FLEX project with the goal of improving my verbal communication skills and presentation confidence. Not only is this relevant for CanMEDs and clinical practice, but also for challenging myself to manage my speech impediment I’ve had since I was eight years old. While it has been an ongoing barrier in my life, this project has given me the opportunity to practice and develop verbal presentation skills that will benefit me in medical school and future clinical practice.”
They encourage other medical students to contact Dr. Jane Gair at jgair@uvic.ca to get involved in developing their own MMS. Community members or clinicians interested in learning more about the series are welcome to reach out as well.
Michael and Derek’s 2023/24 series was the fourth iteration of the MMS developed by UBC medical students in collaboration with Dr. Jane Gair. Recordings of the presentations are available online on Dr. Gair’s website under “Student Presentations” → “2023 – 2024 Presentations.” Recordings of lectures in past MMS series that were presented via Zoom can also be found on this website.