900 Section - Advancing PM&R Training through Integrated Community and Global Health Education

Objectives : ACGME Core Competencies require PM&R residents to understand systems-based practice and leverage community resources for optimal care. This pilot study examines the implementation of a community and global health curriculum within a PM&R residency program.

Design: The curriculum was integrated into the core didactics of a PM&R residency in an urban, historically under-resourced community with disproportionately high rates of disability and chronic disease. Four lectures delivered over 8 months addressed disability inequities, insurance, policy, and advocacy in the US and internationally. Residents completed pre- and post-surveys assessing self-reported competencies and interest in public health involvement using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree), with non-identifying codes for paired comparisons. Statistical analyses in Stata 18 included descriptive statistics, Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, and ANOVA to evaluate means, changes over time, and differences between residency classes, respectively.

Results: Most lectures had 19-20 pre- and post-survey responses. Pre-surveys showed average self-reported competencies of 3.64-4.28, with PGY-2s lower (3.75) than PGY-3s (3.88) and PGY-4s (4.25). Post-surveys demonstrated increased competency at all levels (+0.66 PGY-2s, +0.48 PGY-3s, +0.31 PGY-4s; p ≤ 0.01), with larger gains at earlier training stages. Baseline interest in public health involvement was high (4.03 PGY-2s, 4.14 PGY-3s, 4.39 PGY-4s) and increased in post-surveys for all levels. Qualitative feedback indicated that residents valued the sessions and wished they had received them earlier. Limitations included incomplete survey data and variable attendance.

Conclusion: Integrating community and global health education into PM&R residency supports ACGME systems-based practice competencies and equips residents with advocacy tools to address determinants of health and disability-related inequities. Future directions include improving survey completion, expanding curricular content (including a lecture on building capacity in international settings), and evaluating implementation and impact across programs.