Debating evidence-based health policy in an interprofessional classroom: an exploratory study

Model United Nations (MUN) debates enable students to engage in policy debate in simulated UN councils, and are regularly held in schools and colleges, globally. In developing countries where leadership and teamwork in ‘evidence-based policy and practice’ is needed to overcome health inequities and strengthen health systems, few curricula teach these skills using simulation-based, participatory learning approaches. Do MUN debates have something to offer for health professions education in low-resource settings? Since MUN debates are novel in health profession education, we aimed to identify the skill domains for selection of outcome measures in future evaluations. We employed an exploratory, qualitative approach to identify relevant competency domains. The 8 students (4 medical, 1 dental, and 3 pre-med) who volunteered to participate in the MedMUN initiative were interviewed, responses were thematically analyzed and a conceptual framework was developed. Leadership (subthemes: confidence and public-speaking), teamwork (subthemes: student integration and interprofessional education), and social responsibility (subthemes: democracy and a global outlook) were dominant themes. MUN debates are useful, interprofessional simulation exercises for providing students a window into global health policy, while engendering leadership and teamwork skills.