P0536 - Double H Service Learning Program: Encouraging medical students’ professional and personal growth in understanding and caring for children with chronic illness

Program Goals: Double H Ranch (HH) is a camp for children living with life threatening and/or chronic illnesses such as cancer, neuromuscular disease and autoimmune conditions. HH serves children and their families with year-round, adaptable activities such as ropes course, horseback riding, archery and fishing/boating. HH also serves children at local medical centers through their hospital outreach program (HOP). Volunteering with HH provides medical students the opportunity to interact with children outside a traditional medical setting, serving as a potent reminder that patients are not defined by their illnesses and shedding light on the complex challenges facing children with serious illness. Considering the benefits of HH for children, families and volunteers, the Double H Ranch Service-Learning Program (HH-SL) was created in December 2018. The HH-SL aims to enhance medical education by enabling students to: (1) Recognize the challenges faced by children with serious illness, and their families; (2) Foster compassion and comfort in caring for children; (3) Acknowledge the personal and professional benefits of medical volunteerism. HH-SL currently involves 26 medical students years 1-4. Students are required to complete 2 weekend and 4 HOP sessions with HH and participate in twice-yearly reflection meetings with medical college advisors. HH-SL students were asked to reflect on their experience via Qualtrics survey.
Evaluation: Respondents (N=18) strongly agreed that involvement with HH has therapeutic benefits for children with serious illness (88%) and their families (77%). Students strongly agreed that volunteering at HH has professional benefits for students (82%) as well as personal and/or emotional benefits (82%). Additional questions regarding the professional benefits further qualified that the HH-SL (1) broadens the understanding of the daily and multifaceted care challenges of pediatric patients and their families, (2) emphasizes the importance of inter-professional and team-based approaches to pediatric care-giving, (3) increases comfort working with and adapting to the needs of pediatric population. All respondents agreed that the HH-SL program (1) reaffirms one’s passion for medicine, (2) enables reflection onto the humanistic elements of medicine, (3) reduces feelings of burnout, and (4) encourages continued involvement with medical volunteerism after medical school. All students agreed that they would recommend involvement with HH to fellow students and/or medical co-workers, as well as to future patients and/or patient’s families.

Discussion: Volunteering in medical school supplements didactic and clinical education, as well as fosters empathy and deeper understanding of one’s community and a patient’s physical and emotional needs. This study suggests that the HH-SL serves as a model for enhancing medical education by enabling experiential development of a better understanding of the challenges facing children, as well as their families, with serious illness, to foster compassion and team-based skills, and to reduce feelings of student burnout while reaffirming student passion for medicine.