Background: Despite efforts to promote equity in medical education, current training relies heavily on clinical experiences to teach social determinants of health (SDOH) and communication skills, placing the educational burden on already vulnerable patients. Evidence suggests that physician communication skills are critical for effective shared decision-making (SDM) and patient outcomes, yet training on applying SDOH to SDM remains limited. Inspired by narrative medicine and standardized patient (SP) simulations, this project aims to develop an equitable, community-based educational model to enhance medical students’ SDM skills.

Objective: This study seeks to determine whether the use of real, deidentified patient narratives as preparatory material improves preclinical medical students’ comfort with and performance in SDM during SP encounters.

Methods: Using community-partnered research practices, 5–10 patients with brain cancer will participate in long-form interviews to share their experiences navigating care. These narratives will inform the development of narrative medicine cases and a rubric to evaluate SDM skills. A pilot study will involve 6 medical students (3 experimental, 3 control) in SP sessions. Experimental students will receive preparatory materials, including SDM readings and case-based learning, while control students will receive no preparation. SP sessions will consist of 20-minute interviews followed by feedback. Data collection will include SP, facilitator, and peer assessments, along with pre- and post-surveys. Qualitative themes from patient interviews and SP feedback will be analyzed using Dedoose, and quantitative survey results will be analyzed using GraphPad Prism.

Significance: This project promotes health equity by empowering patients to share their experiences and advancing medical students’ empathy and communication skills in a low-risk, controlled environment. It demonstrates how community-based narrative medicine can enhance medical education, improve patient outcomes, and minimize risks to vulnerable populations. With the potential for sustainability and integration into the UCLA curriculum, this initiative could model training compassionate, equity-minded clinicians.