A Guide for Designing Student-Led, Interprofessional Community Education Initiatives About HIV Risk and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis

INTRODUCTION: There is room for innovation in medical education regarding HIV and modern biomedical preventive strategies such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Previously described undergraduate medical curricular modules address care for HIV patients but do not include PrEP. A graduate medical curriculum concerning HIV has also been described but misses the opportunity for early introduction of HIV risk prevention, an element of primary preventive care. The guiding framework described here provides one mechanism to begin addressing this gap and fosters interprofessional collaboration among students through community engagement. METHODS: We assembled a team of 11 first-year students (medical, physician assistant, podiatry, pharmacy, and health care psychology). The team collaborated to create a training module about HIV risk and PrEP access in Lake County, Illinois. A biopsychosocial perspective on HIV risk and PrEP was employed as the guiding framework. The student team presented the module to care teams at the Lake County Health Department and to the university campus through interactive workshops. RESULTS: Participating students completed a self-reflection instrument. Responses were positive in terms of student enjoyment and attainment of new knowledge regarding HIV risk and PrEP. Students also self-reported competency in a selected group of Interprofessional Education Collaborative competencies. Narrative responses were analyzed for context. DISCUSSION: Student responses suggest that this activity is effective in providing education about HIV risk and PrEP. The framework is novel in that it requires research and modification at each site of implementation. Furthermore, as an extracurricular element, its implementation is flexible.