1615 - Integration of a Public Health Curriculum in PM&R Residency Training

Thursday, February 19, 2026

5:00 PM - 6:30 PM AST

Presenting Author(s)

YP

Yolanda N. Pham, MD

Resident Physician
Montefiore Einstein
Bronx, New York, United States

Co-Author(s)

SR

Stephanie Rand, DO

Residency Program Director
Montefiore Medical Center
Bronx, New York, United States

Submitter(s)

YP

Yolanda N. Pham, MD

Montefiore Einstein
Bronx, New York, United States

Objectives: ACGME Core Competencies require PM&R residents to understand systems-based practice and leverage public health resources for optimal care. This pilot study examines the implementation of a public health education curriculum within a PM&R residency program.

Design: A public health curriculum was integrated into the core didactics of a PM&R residency located in an urban, historically under-resourced community with disproportionately high rates of disability and chronic disease. Four lectures were delivered over 8 months addressing disability inequities, insurance, policy, and advocacy. Residents completed pre- and post-surveys assessing self-reported competencies and interest in public health involvement using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree), with non-identifying codes for paired comparisons. Statistical analyses in Stata 18 included descriptive statistics, Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, and ANOVA to evaluate means, changes over time, and differences between residency classes, respectively.

Results: Each lecture had 19-20 pre- and post-survey responses, except for one with only 7 due to administration issues. Pre-surveys showed average self-reported competencies of 3.64-4.28, with PGY-2s lower (3.75) than PGY-3s (3.88) and PGY-4s (4.25). Post-surveys demonstrated increased competency at all levels (+0.66 PGY-2s, +0.48 PGY-3s, +0.31 PGY-4s; p ≤ 0.01), with larger gains at earlier training stages. Baseline interest in public health involvement was high (4.03 PGY-2s, 4.14 PGY-3s, 4.39 PGY-4s) and increased in post-surveys (+0.52 PGY-2s, +0.34 PGY-3s, +0.14 PGY-4s). Qualitative feedback indicated that residents valued the sessions and wished they had received them earlier. Limitations included incomplete survey data and variable attendance.

Conclusions:

To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that integrating public health education into PM&R residency supports ACGME systems-based practice competencies and equips residents with advocacy tools to address determinants of health and disability-related inequities. Future directions include improving survey completion, expanding curricular content, and evaluating implementation and impact across programs.