AOCI Disabilities and Strategies Against Ableism Taskforce Launched

The AOCI Disability and Strategies against Ableism Taskforce launched in April 2023. This advisory group will establish foundational recommendations to enhance inclusivity and to address areas of the curriculum that are contributing, often unintentionally, to the continuation of ableist beliefs. One of the deliverables of this taskforce will be to share input on how to approach future efforts to expand learning about disability in the Bridges Curriculum.

Mapping Project to Tag Bridges Curriculum AO Content Underway

Following the development of a new mapping tool, the AO Mapping Project is getting underway this spring. This project aims to identify where anti-oppressive content is featured across the Bridges Curriculum. The goal is to curate a helpful map for students, faculty, and staff made accessible by the Curriculum Data Dashboard, which will inform on-going curriculum development efforts.

Evaluation Plan for Anti-Oppression Education Announced

The Educational Evaluations team recently announced the Evaluation Plan for Anti-Oppression Education, which will foster a culture of continuous growth and help faculty and staff identify and skillfully address educational oppression across all four years of the Bridges Curriculum. The Evaluation Plan for Anti-Oppression Education will launch in August.

In preparation for this launch, the Supporting a Fair and Equitable Environment (SAFE) Feedback Form has been updated to give students a single online portal to provide real-time curriculum-related feedback directly to School leadership. Students can submit both reinforcing and constructive feedback to guide faculty and staff in continuous quality improvement of teaching, the learning environment, and their own skills. Review the Methods for Student Feedback Table for more information on ways to provide feedback and how feedback is reviewed, shared, and acted upon.

Faculty Diversity Recruitment Efforts

The Differences Matter Diversify Medicine and Science group is focused on expanding faculty and school leadership amongst individuals from historically excluded from medicine communities. The goal is to help transform UCSF into a truly inclusive and welcoming environment, and to address the complex barriers impacting health and illness in the Bay Area and beyond by partnering with the diverse communities we serve.

The team is working on strategies that will create an environment within the School of Medicine that supports personal flourishing, leads to increased recruitment and retention of faculty from historically excluded groups, and revamps and sustains an institutional culture that promotes equity, inclusion, and belonging. Currently, an institutional assessment phase is underway and work on interventions will begin in the next six months. 

For more information, see the Office of Faculty and Academic Affairs' Faculty Demographic Data webpage. 

HS&I Visioning Working Group Transitioning to Advisory Role

The Health and Society and Health and the Individual (HS&I) Visioning Working Group’s charge is to envision the future of a course focused on the social, structural, and behavioral aspects of illness and health (causes and consequences), including the impacts of oppression on health.

The group’s initial vision for the course incorporates utilizing critical analysis when learning and applying medical knowledge, navigating conversations around topics such as equity, difference, race, oppression, intersectionality, and anti-oppression in the health care context, and supporting students in managing trauma that arises during medical training.    

Given the ongoing nature of curricular transformation for HS&I, when the Working Group completes its initial work this summer, the team will transition to an Advisory Group to provide continued support and input to the course leadership team.

Interested in joining the HS&I Advisory Group? Please contact AOCI@ucsf.edu.

Student Experience Team AO Programs

Differences Matter Orientation to Engage Curricular Leaders

Planning for the 2024 Differences Matter Orientation (DMO) is underway. The DMO team continues to work with an external DEI consultant to enhance ongoing improvement efforts. Foundations 1 course directors have been invited to participate in a facilitated faculty small group during the two-day DMO program with the goals of engaging curricular leaders in the same curriculum that students participate in and to discuss how to integrate DMO values, content, and processes into Foundations 1. 

Enhancing Student Mentoring Opportunities

SET to Pilot Faculty/Trainee Mentor List

During the 2023-2024 academic year, the Student Experience Team (SET) will pilot a new faculty/trainee mentor list, including prospective mentors’ salient identities and professional interests.

UIM Longitudinal Mentoring Groups to Continue

Longitudinal mentoring groups are available to all students, with a particular focus on students who identify as underrepresented in medicine (UIM). The MS1 students will continue into 2023-24 with student feedback from 2022-23 guiding continued development of this pilot program.  

One-on-one Culturally Affirming Support

One-on-one culturally affirming support, mentoring, and sponsorship are available to students through the Specialist for UIM Students/Associate Director of Student Support for AOCI. For more information, please contact Dr. Denise Davis, Associate Director of Student Support, AOCI.  

Student Support Groups

The Student Experience Team, in collaboration with student leaders, will continue to host cultural and identity-affirming student support groups. For more information, please contact Dr. Denise Davis, Associate Director of Student Support, AOCI.

Welcome the Newest AOCI Student Fellow

Please join us in welcoming Allison (Alli) Gomez (she/her), who will be joining the AOCI Team as a year-long fellow starting in July! Alli will be working on multiple curricular efforts in the AOCI and collaborating with students, staff, and faculty on AO projects.  

AO Student Research Highlighted at AAMC Western Group Conference

Congratulations to Sarah Lee (she/her) MS2, who collaborated with AOCI Curriculum Component Liaison Peter Ureste, MD, on a project titled, “Implementation of Trauma-Informed Educational Framework in Delivery of Professional Identity Formation Curriculum in Medical School” while participating in the summer 2022 Curriculum Ambassador Program. Their work was selected as a poster presentation at the 2023 AAMC Western Group Collaborative Spring Conference. 

Alice Hua, PhD, Joins Medical Student Well-Being Program

The School of Medicine recently announced that psychologist Alice Hua, PhD, has joined the Medical Student Well-Being Program. Review the announcement to learn more about Dr. Hua and visit the Medical Student Well-Being webpage to schedule an appointment.

Review of Video Lessons Aims for 2024 Completion

During the 2022-2023 academic year, Bridges Curriculum course leadership teams partnered with Technology Enhanced Education (TEE) and the AOCI Curricular Component Liaisons to review UCSF-generated video and online content for Foundations 1 with an anti-oppressive lens. Efforts to review UCSF-generated video content in Foundations 1 will continue during the 2023-24 academic year with the goal of completing all reviews in 2024.

The TEE and AOCI teams have also launched a new process for video development that includes an anti-oppressive review before any new recordings are made.

We are grateful for all the students, Course Directors, faculty, staff, and AOCI team members who have helped ensure our video content reflects an anti-oppressive approach.

As a reminder, when accessing videos in the CLE (log in required), students can find messages about where video content is in the review/update process embedded within each video.

For more information about the video lessons review status and process, please contact iROCKET@ucsf.edu.