Health Care Disparities
New Curriculum for Incoming First Year Students on Health Care Disparities
By Monica Vela, MD
This spring, students matriculating at Pritzker in the 2006-2007 academic year will receive a special invitation to attend a new program, Health Care Disparities in America, an intensive one-week experience offered just before Orientation Week. The experience will utilize an innovative and dynamic approach to help students attain a solid knowledge base in this field, including historical perspectives and current conditions and to provide the real-world exposure to these issues that adds a human face and dimension to the learning process. The goal is to arm our students with the knowledge and skills that will help them frame their medical education within the context of greater societal issues and, ultimately, support their development into the future leaders who will effect real-world change.
The curriculum will be led by Monica Vela, MD, and will draw upon the skills and strengths of instructors from a variety of different educational backgrounds, levels of training, and perspectives, including senior medical students, residents, fellows and faculty. Most importantly, the program will offer experiences beyond the confines of the academic medical center, including numerous interactions with the people, programs, and facilities located in the surrounding neighborhoods of the South Side of Chicago.
Ultimately, the goal of the curriculum is to demonstrate the variety of ways that individuals and institutions can impact health care disparities. The goal is no less ambitious than to revolutionize the way that students perceive their own roles in combating disparities and that they will one day guide us all toward a future of solutions.
