Table 1 Description of the articles in the integrative review

Shield et al. (2011) [21]

USA

Descriptive study

Schwartz Communication Sessions

1st- and 2nd-year MS

To improve communication skills

2 years

School

Patients, families, and the health care team

Eagerness to learn practical ways to communicate with patients in real life

Good

Solomon et al. (2011) [22]

Canada

Descriptive study

Professional Competencies Course

1st- and 2nd-year MS

To raise awareness of inter-professional care in the home

2 terms (final term of 1st year and first term of 2nd year)

Patients’ homes

Clinical preceptors from different professions

A greater understanding of the patients’ perspective and determinants of health; an appreciation of the importance of collaboration

Good

de Boer et al. (2011) [23]

Netherlands

Experimental study

Real patient learning practicals

3rd-year MS

To demonstrate in practice the theory and to make students aware of the impact of a disease on patients’ lives

3 weeks

School

Real patients

Early contextualizing of the theory, better memorizing of clinical pictures, and deep understanding of the impact of the disease

Good

Pelling et al. (2011) [24]

Sweden

Descriptive study

Inter-professional training ward

MS and other health profession students

To train students to become proficient in teamwork

2 weeks

Orthopedic ward

Patients, clinical supervisors (nurse, PT, OT, orthopedic surgeon)

A higher level of insight into their own and other professional roles, and the importance of teamwork within health care

Fair

Schillerstrom et al. (2012) [25]

USA

Descriptive study

Death-and-Dying Human Behavior Course

1st-year MS

To improve students’ comfort with and knowledge of end-of-life issues

2 h of lectures and 2 h of small-group activities

School

Family members of recently deceased loved ones and faculty

Meaningful experience to decrease distress and improve end-of-life knowledge at an early point

Fair

Hirsh et al. (2012) [26]

USA

Experimental study

Harvard Medical School–Cambridge Integrated Clerkship

3rd-year MS

To learn the core skills of doctoring by following a panel of patients

1 year

Ambulatory care setting

Same patients and faculty

Richer perspectives on the course of illness, more insight into social determinants of illness and recovery, and increased commitment to patients

Good

Woodard et al. (2012) [27]

USA

Descriptive study

Primary Care and Special Populations clerkship

3rd-year MS

To be more competent and comfortable with people with disabilities

12 weeks

Community site, patient’s home, classroom

Patients with physical or intellectual disabilities

Improved knowledge, attitudes, and comfort in caring for people with disabilities

Fair

Teherani et al. (2013) [28]

USA

Experimental study

Longitudinal integrated clerkship

3rd-year MS

To participate in the care of patients over time and develop learning relationships with clinicians

1 year

Largely ambulatory setting

Same patients, peers, and faculty

Strengthening patient-centeredness and student-driven learning through continuity with patients, peers, and faculty

Good

Chastonay et al. (2013) [29]

Switzerland

Descriptive study

Community immersion clerkship

3rd-year MS

To be capable of working in and with the community and understand the communities their patients live in

4–6 weeks

Community

Community health workers, community health institutions, and patients’ families

Responding to the health problems of individuals in terms of their complexity and strengthening the ability to work with the community

Good

O’Neill et al. (2013) [30]

USA

Descriptive study

Education-Centered Medical Home (a longitudinal clerkship)

1st–4th-year MS

To introduce the concepts and process of QI under the supervision of a preceptor

1 year

Outpatient clinics

High-risk patients, preceptors

Participating in firsthand health care quality measurement and identifying opportunities to improve the quality of patient care

Good

Alamodi et al. (2014) [31]

Saudi Arabia

Descriptive study

Student-driven undergraduate research committee

MS

To promote, sustain and, improve undergraduate research environments

Whole academic year

On-campus, off-campus

International or local researcher

Capability to choose research areas of their own interest and develop basic skills in research conduct

Fair

Warde et al. (2014) [32]

USA

Descriptive study

Leadership course in UCLA PRIME Program

1st-year MS

To foster leadership, advocacy, and resiliency

3 weeks

Community

Medically underserved populations

Improved mindfulness and team relational coordination

Fair

Sheline et al. (2014) [33]

USA

Descriptive study

Primary Care Leadership Track

MS

To provide the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to improve both health and future health care

4 years

Community

Faculty, community health professionals, and patients

Engaging with the community and exploring solutions to address the health of the public and the future delivery of health care

Fair

Potash et al. (2014) [34]

Hong Kong

Experimental study

Arts-making workshop in a family medicine clerkship

3rd-year MS

To develop empathic understanding of patients

3 h

Clinics

Faculty as well as a qualified art therapist

Fostering meaningful reflection and greater self-awareness

Good

Kalen et al. (2015) [35]

Sweden

Descriptive study

Longitudinal mentoring program

MS

To facilitate students’ professional and personal development

5.5 years

School, mentors’ clinic

Physician mentors, patients

Imaging their future life as a physician and learning about the physician’s doings at an early stage of their education

Good

Ferguson et al. (2015) [36]

USA

Descriptive study

QI and Patient Safety Scholarly Pathway

1st–3rd year MS

To develop interest in gaining exposure to QI and patient safety concepts

2 years with an optional third year

School

Faculty mentors, patients, and institutional, regional leaders

Identifying systems- and process-based errors, and practicing disclosing the error to the patient’s family

Fair

Swanberg et al. (2015) [37]

USA

Descriptive study

Diversity Dialogue

MS

To promote cultural competence and raise awareness of health care disparities

3–4 dialogues (1.5 h in length) per year

School

Multidisciplinary team of librarians, faculty, and staff

Understanding diverse perspectives from physicians, patients, and non-profit organizations, and raising awareness of health disparity issues

Fair

Chou et al. (2016) [38]

Taiwan

Experimental study

Inter-professional problem-based clinical ethics

4th-year MS, 3rd-year nursing students

To balance their socialized viewpoints by seeing ethical dilemmas from others’ standpoints

Two 2-h tutorial sessions

School

Problem-based clinical ethics

Recognizing different viewpoints from other professionals, and realizing the need to know each other and collaborate on delivering care to patients

Good

Milford et al. (2016) [39]

USA

Descriptive study

Collaboration with Head Start

1st- and 2nd-year MS

To improve students’ attitudes, knowledge, and skills in health literacy

2 h per week for 7 months (an academic year)

Community

Head Start population

Truly understanding the barriers created by poor health literacy and poverty, and effectively training in how to put the changed attitudes into action

Good

Chen et al. (2016) [40]

USA

Descriptive study

Medical student–Faculty collaborative clinics

Junior (1st or 2nd year), Senior MS (3rd or 4th year)

To engage in active experiential learning and systems-based practice training

6 months

Clinics

Patient Visit Tracker (software), patients, attending physicians

Being able to identify bottlenecks in the system, propose solutions, and then test the efficacy of their interventions

Fair

Pettignano et al. (2017) [41]

USA

Descriptive study

Interprofessional medical–legal education

3rd-year MS, law students

To identify social determinants of health with potential legal solutions

4 sessions (2 h in length per session)

School

Faculty, staff attorneys

Understanding the importance of identifying health-harming legal problems and of advocating for the inclusion of lawyers on care coordination teams

Fair

van der Meulen et al. (2017) [42]

Netherlands

Descriptive study

Gender health issues in the Nijmegen medical curriculum

1st–3rd-year MS

To learn about the effects of gender health issues in medical care

8 courses (2–4 weeks per course)

School

Integrated gender perspective in the medical curriculum

Being aware of gender differences in biomedical and social contexts, and understanding the role of their own gender in their profession as doctors

Fair

Mwenda (2012) [43]

Kenya, Sweden

Descriptive study

Moi–Linköping exchange programme

MS and other health professional students

To understand the differences in the health care system and enhance the global outlook to health

6 weeks in Kenya, 12 weeks in Sweden

Another country

Different health care system

Broadening students’ learning platform and exposing them to cultural and health care organization diversity

Fair

Johnson et al. (2013) [44]

USA

Experimental study

Virtual patient simulators

2nd-year MS

To practice diagnosis formulation of rare and complex medical conditions

–

Online community

Computer-based clinical scenarios

Facilitating student learning and engagement in team-based learning without risk of patient harm

Good

Kaltman et al. (2015) [45]

USA

Experimental study

Motivational Interviewing Training in a family medicine clerkship

3rd-year MS

To provide training in the widely dispersed student-preceptor placements

4 weeks

Clinics, online community

Online learning community

Enhancing students’ learning by providing a video recording of a live patient encounter and individualized feedback without a burden on faculty time

Good

O’Donovan et al. (2015) [46]

UK, Malaysia

Descriptive study

Distant peer-tutoring of clinical skills

2nd-year MS from Malaysia and 4th-year MS from UK

To facilitate peer-to-peer tutoring in clinical skills between students in two different countries

3 weeks

Online community

Distant peer tutor, online learning community

Encouraging active learning and building a strong rapport using a low-cost, time efficient, and easily accessible education tool in resource-limited settings

Good

Ma et al. (2016) [47]

Germany

Descriptive study

Magic mirror

MS

For anatomy education through personalized and interactive augmented reality

–

E-learning

Augmented reality

Facilitating autonomous and interactive learning by close-to-reality presentation without using laboratory materials and costs

Fair

Keynejad et al. (2016) [48]

UK, Somaliland

Descriptive study

Peer-to-peer e-learning

3rd-year UK, 3rd–5th-year Somaliland MS

To strengthen health care systems in low- and middle-income countries through mutual exchange

Ten times for 1 h

E-learning

E-learning, peer tutor

Creating low-cost opportunities for cross-cultural learning in restricted medical education and health care resources

Good