IOM: Social determinants should be part of medical education

An Institute of Medicine committee is recommending that an understanding of the social determinants of health be incorporated into the education and continuing training of healthcare professionals (Source: “IOM: Lifelong education needed to tackle social determinants of health,” Fierce Healthcare, March 6, 2017).

Economic policies, cultural and social norms, social policies and political systems all affect the conditions people live in and the root causes of poor health, according to the IOM report. 

The report argued that "all health professionals need to develop an understanding during their foundational education and training of the outside forces that impact a person's, community's, or population's health and well-being."