Barriers to integration of behavioral and social sciences in the general medicine curriculum and recommended strategies to overcome them: A systematic review

Abstract

Introduction: The integration of behavioral and social sciences(BSS) into the curriculum of medical students in order to equipthem with the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes is anessential issue, emphasized in many researches. Our aim is toinvestigate the barriers to integrate BSS into the general medicinecurriculum as well as the recommended strategies to overcomesuch barriers through a systematic review of literature.Methods: PubMed, ERIC, Scopus, CINAHL, Google Scholar,and OPENGREY were searched for studies on the barriers tointegration of BSS into the general medicine curriculum as wellas the strategies employed to overcome them until August 28,2015.Results: Sixteen relevant studies were included and the relateddomains were categorized as barriers and some strategies wererecommended to overcome them. In addition, the quality of theincluded studies was assessed.Conclusion: Despite the prominent role of BSS in theeffectiveness of health care, these sciences have not beenincluded in the curriculum of medical students effectively. Theidentified barriers and the strategies used to overcome themshould be considered for all integration programs. Future studiesshould focus on the process of BSS integration in the medicalcurricula and should evaluate the efficacy of this integration inmore detail.Keywords: Integration; Social sciences; Behavioural sciences; Curriculum; Barriers