Barriers to integration of behavioral and social sciences in the general medicine curriculum and recommended strategies to overcome them: A systematic review

Introduction: The integration of behavioral and social sciences (BSS) into the curriculum of medical students in order to equip them with the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes is an essential issue, emphasized in many researches. Our aim is to investigate the barriers to integrate BSS into the general medicine curriculum as well as the recommended strategies to overcome such barriers through a systematic review of literature. Methods: PubMed, ERIC, Scopus, CINAHL, Google Scholar, and OPENGREY were searched for studies on the barriers to integration of BSS into the general medicine curriculum as well as the strategies employed to overcome them until August 28, 2015. Results: Sixteen relevant studies were included and the related domains were categorized as barriers and some strategies were recommended to overcome them. In addition, the quality of the included studies was assessed. Conclusion: Despite the prominent role of BSS in the effectiveness of health care, these sciences have not been included in the curriculum of medical students effectively. The identified barriers and the strategies used to overcome them should be considered for all integration programs. Future studies should focus on the process of BSS integration in the medical curricula and should evaluate the efficacy of this integration in more detail.