Front Med (Lausanne). 2026 Jul 13;13:1860983. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2026.1860983. eCollection 2026.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of preventable death globally, yet its burden is unequally distributed across social and structural lines. Given its unique clinical and social richness, cardiovascular disease represents a compelling vehicle through which health professions learners can develop the competencies needed to address these disparities in practice. This review aims to synthesise existing evidence on how cardiovascular disease is used as a teaching vehicle for structural and social competency in health professions education, and to evaluate the effectiveness of such interventions among health professions learners.
METHODS: Six databases were searched for studies describing educational interventions incorporating cardiovascular disease to teach structural and social determinants of health to health professions learners. Data on learner type, CVD topic, SDOH content, pedagogical approach, learner outcomes, and methodological quality were extracted.
RESULTS: Five studies met the inclusion criteria, all conducted in the United States, spanning medical students, pharmacy students, health science students, and cardiovascular fellowship trainees. Hypertension, myocardiaxl infarction, and women's cardiovascular disease served as the primary teaching topics, with race, racism, and socioeconomic status as the most consistently addressed structural determinants. Interventions ranged from single sessions to a multimodal longitudinal fellowship curriculum. Three studies demonstrated statistically significant pre-to-post improvements in learner knowledge, attitudes, and structural understanding; one produced high-quality written reflections in 90%-96% of students; and one reported positive qualitative feedback without formal quantitative assessment.
CONCLUSION: The available evidence suggests that cardiovascular disease is a feasible and promising teaching vehicle for structural and social competency, but current evidence is limited by small study numbers, US-only settings, heterogeneous interventions, and limited long-term outcome data. The results support investment in CVD-focused interventions, especially if longitudinal and experiential, to develop a more structurally competent health workforce.
SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO: CRD420251231266.
PMID:42517040 | PMC:PMC13402413 | DOI:10.3389/fmed.2026.1860983