Preparing Medical Students for Sideline Sports Care in Underserved Communities: A Comparison of Simulation and Lecture-Based Training

INTRODUCTION: Access to sideline medical care is limited in many public-school athletic programs, especially in underserved urban areas. The Detroit Public School Health Corps (DPSHC) was founded in response to the tragic death of a Detroit public school basketball player who suffered a cardiac arrest during a game, underscoring the critical need for timely and effective sideline emergency care. DPSHC is a student-led inreach initiative targeting local healthcare gaps by providing equity-driven medical training in nearby schools. This study tests the hypothesis that simulation-based training will be more effective than traditional didactic training in improving a student volunteer's clinical preparedness, knowledge retention, and confidence in sideline medical roles. The primary objectives are to compare confidence and knowledge gains between the two training methods, while a secondary objective evaluates the perceived impact of resident physician involvement during simulation. METHODS: Forty-seven medical student volunteers completed either lecture-based (n=16) or simulation-based (n=31) training. Both groups completed identical pre- and post-training surveys assessing confidence in managing sports injuries and clinical knowledge. Paired t-tests analyzed the data to evaluate within-group improvements from before to after a training session, while independent t-tests compared the degree of improvement between training formats. RESULTS: Both groups showed a significant improvement in confidence (p < 0.001). The simulation group showed greater confidence gains than the lecture group (33.06% vs. 24.53%, p = 0.02). Knowledge scores improved more in the simulation group (62.1% vs. 31.25%), though not significantly (p = 0.153). Resident physician involvement was rated invaluable by 25 (80.6%) of the simulation participants. CONCLUSION: Simulation-based training enhanced medical student volunteers' confidence more than lecture-based methods in sideline care roles within an inreach program addressing healthcare disparities. These findings support the expansion of simulation-based learning as a core component of equity-driven, community-embedded medical education.