Health professions education and training programs in health care for homeless individuals: a scoping review.

PURPOSE: In 2024, homelessness in the United States reached a historic peak. Homelessness creates challenges for affected individuals and health care professionals. Although research suggests that health professions education (HPE) students and trainees and homeless patients can benefit from educational and training programs in health care for homeless individuals (homeless health care), how many programs exist or are effective is unknown. This scoping review identifies programs, synthesizes outcomes, summarizes gaps, and provides recommendations to advance practice.

METHOD: In May 2023, the authors used keywords including homelessness and medical education to search for peer-reviewed and gray literature published from January 2000 to December 2024 about homeless health care programs for students and trainees in clinical psychology, dentistry, medicine, nursing, occupational and physical therapy, pharmacy, physician assistant, public health, and social work. The latest peer-reviewed literature searches were completed in August 2025 using Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and ERIC, and the latest gray literature was drawn in September 2025 from HPE institutional websites in 20 cities with large homeless populations.

RESULTS

The authors identified 167 HPE homeless health care programs, most commonly in medicine (123 [73.7%]), nursing (57 [34.1%]), and social work (40 [24.0%]). Student-run clinics (67 [40.1%]) and street medicine programs (55 [32.9%]) were the most prevalent program types. Only 27 (16.2%) evaluated student, trainee, or patient outcomes, and only 24 (14.4%) described a program curriculum.

CONCLUSIONS

Many HPE institutions lack homeless health care programming, and certain professions and regions are underrepresented. Programs are often student-led and challenging to sustain. However, evaluations have demonstrated significant potential benefits for students, trainees, and homeless patients. Educators have described effective practices, curricula, and tools to create, sustain, and evaluate homeless health care programs. The authors recommend incorporating effective practices, creating programs for underrepresented professions and regions, and developing interprofessional competencies for homeless health care.