MEDHAX: A digital resource ‘by students, for students’ to enhance integrated learning in sociocultural health for a preclinical medical cohort

The disciplines of Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) and Health Sociology (HS) are essential to the practice of person-centred medicine. However preclinical medical students often struggle to comprehend the relevance of these disciplines to their future practice, potentially leading to a neglect of obtaining essential knowledge to assist their future patients. To address this challenge, three supervised rural medical students co-designed and developed the online peer learning resource, MEDHAX. This ‘by students, for students’ interactive, dynamic, and graphically appealing digital platform engages learners through case-based integration and clinical application of EBM and HS concepts, tailored for a rural setting. Seven tutorials were created, encompassing video tutorials, interactive modules, revision notes and self-assessment quizzes. Evaluation surveys were used to guide resource improvement, with 39 responses to the pilot evaluation and 39 responses to the subsequent full evaluation. Survey analysis indicate that student users considered MEDHAX to be highly useful, engaging, and even ‘lifesaving’, with the overall rating change in content understanding pre- versus post- MEDHAX engagement showing a significant mean change of 2.4 points (95% CI 1.7 to 3.1; p<0.0001). Website analytics indicate that the resource was accessed not only by the geolocation of the intended cohort but was shared and accessed globally. A student co-design approach for creating online integrated and person-centred education resources significantly improves student satisfaction, understanding of EBM and HS concepts and increases access to relevant cutting-edge education for preclinical medical students.