Pick Up Sports and Health (PUSH): a pilot evaluation of a student-led service-learning program for health literacy and professional development in underserved communities

Medical education accreditation standards increasingly demand meaningful community engagement opportunities, yet many institutions struggle to establish sustainable student-led service-learning programs. Additionally, health literacy remains low in underserved communities, and medical students’ attitudes toward underserved populations often decline during training. To conduct a pilot evaluation of PUSH (Pick Up Sports and Health), a student-led service-learning program that combines physical activities with health education for underserved youth, assessing feasibility and early educational outcomes. We conducted a pilot study using a mixed methods approach (Fall 2024) involving 25 health profession student volunteers (“Coaches”) and 11 child participants (ages 8–12) from an underserved community in Upper Manhattan. This pilot study employed both quantitative and qualitative data collection including an 11-item non-validated Likert scale survey assessing Coaches’ perceived competency growth across four domains (community understanding, clinical knowledge application, communication skills, and leadership) and qualitative reflections. Child and parent surveys measured self-reported health knowledge retention (assessed four months after initial sessions), interest in healthcare careers, and program satisfaction. Among Coaches, 92–96% reported perceived growth in competency across all domains, with 88% expressing willingness to volunteer again. Over 90% of child participants demonstrated improved self-reported health knowledge, and 45.5% expressed interest in pursuing healthcare careers. The program operated at a low cost of $20–50 per session, with minimal faculty time commitment (2–3 h per month). However, these findings are based on small-scale, self-reported data without a comparison group. PUSH appears feasible and demonstrates promising early outcomes as an affordable, student-led service-learning model with preliminary benefits for both health profession students and community members, although findings are based on small-scale, self-reported data. The findings support the need for larger-scale evaluation using validated tools and control groups before broader implementation.