In WVSOM’s student-designed activity, Appalachian stories illustrate the social determinants of health

LEWISBURG, W.Va. – “Raise your hand if this simulation made you feel anxious or stressed,” said Courtney Eleazer, Ph.D., a faculty member at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM).

A sea of arms went up.

First-year medical students had just completed the first mandatory activity of the academic year — a simulation designed to introduce the concept of the social determinants of health, which encompasses economic stability, access to education and other nonmedical factors that…