The interconnectedness of our world made possible by communication technologies has transformed our daily lives. Information that used to be restricted to expert circles is now just a few clicks away. While this access to information has undoubtedly empowered us in many ways, the ease and anonymity with which misinformation can be published can be dangerous, particularly when it concerns topics relating to health and medicine.
As we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic, misinformation can encourage some people to engage in risky behaviors and even lose trust in health providers and other experts. Although patients generally trust their healthcare providers as sources of medical advice, they often turn to less reliable, more easily accessible sources such as social media, blogs, or news outlets to learn about illnesses and treatments, which may provide inaccurate information that can conflict with current medical advice. Medical misinformation is becoming a widespread and dangerous threat to public health, yet most medical professionals are not taught how to respond to patients that may hold incorrect or dangerous beliefs.
To address this challenge, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) launched an initiative in 2022 funded by a cooperative agreement with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which was aimed at increasing public confidence in the COVID-19 vaccines and addressing medical misinformation and mistrust through competency-based, interprofessional education and training within health professions. Five Health Professions Education Curricular Innovations subgrantees received support from the AAMC to launch their projects.
Dr. Brian Southwell, Lead Scientist for Public Understanding of Science at RTI, worked with AAMC and Dr. Andrea Anderson of The George Washington University to coach the program grantees and help them refine their projects. Each subgrantee team reflected on their experiences in designing and implementing their projects and Southwell and colleagues compiled the subgrantees' insights into an open-access report published through RTI Press that can be used to inform future activities aimed at addressing medical misinformation through curricular advancements.