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Krista Wenz has been on thousands of interview panels hiring EMS professionals and firefighters for public and private agencies.
Social determinants of health (SDOH) are nonmedical factors that influence health outcomes, including where people are born, grow up, live, and work, which shape their conditions of daily life. When faculty at Indiana University School of Medicine teach about social determinants of health, they describe other factors such as social stress, unsafe living conditions, lack of transportation, poor health behaviors, and low health literacy as critical in determining patients' overall health and well-being. They further describe that these social determinants can complicate care and are difficult for providers to resolve within a typical office visit. The interviewer wants to see that you understand the term and can describe some social determinants of health that may affect your future patients.

Krista Wenz has been on thousands of interview panels hiring EMS professionals and firefighters for public and private agencies.
"From what I have learned during my undergraduate studies, social determinants of health are nonmedical factors that influence a person's health outcome. A person who grows up in an affluent neighborhood with well-off parents may have better access to healthcare and disease prevention than someone who does not have a home or lives in a less affluent part of town. Other factors that can affect a person's health include lack of transportation, poor access to the internet, lack of education, and unsafe living conditions. As a physician, I must identify if any of these factors are affecting a patient's health and assist them with available resources to get the healthcare and education they deserve."

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Written by Krista Wenz
40 Questions & Answers • Indiana University School of Medicine

By Krista

By Krista