A student-led interprofessional virtual outreach program for people with HIV during the Covid-19 pandemic: a pilot program at an academic medical center in Boston

BACKGROUND: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic caused an abrupt disruption in clinical care and medical education, putting patients at increased risk for social stressors and displacing medical students from traditional clerkships. The pandemic also exposed the need for virtual tools to supplement clinical care and an opportunity to create meaningful roles for learners. METHODS: An interdisciplinary group designed a student-led virtual outreach program for patients with HIV whose care was limited by the pandemic. Patients were identified by clinicians and social workers using a clinic-based registry. Students called patients to conduct needs assessments, provide Covid-19 education, and to facilitate connection to services. Students participated in case-based didactics and workshops on motivational interviewing and patient engagement using virtual tools. Facilitated team meetings were held weekly during which themes of calls were identified. RESULTS: During a three-month period, five students participated in the outreach program. Two hundred sixteen patients were identified for outreach calls, of which 174 (75.9%) were successfully reached by telephone. Rate of completed phone call did not differ by age or gender. Sixty patients had a preferred language other than English of which 95.6% were reached in their preferred language. CONCLUSIONS: Virtual proactive outreach can be used as a tool to support patients and engage students in clinical care when access to in-person care is limited. This model of care could be adapted to other ambulatory practices and integrated into pre-clerkship curriculum as an introduction to the social history and structural drivers of health (SDOH) (245/350). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-022-03716-w.