116 - Impact of a Medical Student-Led Workshop on Knowledge of Fall Risk, Gait, and Mobility in Preclinical Medical Students

Objectives: In the United States, up to 1 in 4 people report having a disability, with mobility the most common type of deficit. Falls are a leading cause of preventable injury in older adults in the United States and can lead to disability. Medical students often have limited exposure to disability assessment, including gait and mobility. This study aims to assess the effect of a dedicated student-led workshop on gait analysis, mobility assist devices, fall risk assessment, and fall prevention education on medical student knowledge, skills, confidence, and interest. This type of workshop has not yet been adequately studied in the literature.

Design: This study will have a quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest design. The intervention will be a 2-hour workshop. First and second year medical students will be divided into four groups and will rotate between15-minute stations facilitated by medical students. The stations will include (1) case-based, fall risk assessment and focused history, (2) fall risk focused physical exam, (3) fall risk trivia, and (4) gait analysis, appropriate durable medical equipment use, and simulation of visual impairment in virtual reality apps including “NEI VR: See What I See” and “Versant Health Vision Simulator.”

Results: This study will contrast the objective knowledge and self-reported confidence of medical students pre- and post-workshop intervention. We will also compare student perceptions towards working with older adults and people with disabilities. Participant feedback regarding the event’s strengths, weaknesses, and recommendations for the future will also be assessed.

Conclusions: We will implement a student-led, fall risk educational workshop for preclinical medical students in September 2023. The workshop will focus on a fall risk-focused history and physical exam, gait analysis, and use of mobility assist devices. Feedback from the inaugural workshop will be implemented in future iterations.