Social Medicine & Health Equity Track

Health Equity & Global Health, MedStar Academic Affairs

The Social Medicine & Health Equity (SMHE) Track aims to provide a multidisciplinary and longitudinal opportunity for MedStar residents and fellows to explore the social, racial, cultural, and historical forces that shape health and illness as well as gain an understanding of U.S. health policy, community engagement, and advocacy, and their implications for medical practice and health care delivery.

These areas are explored through monthly touchpoints, quarterly half-day site visits, and an asynchronous curriculum curated using Canvas. Participants choose at least one local or domestic elective in the spirit of the track or have the opportunity to work with a community site throughout their two years. Each participant works closely with a faculty mentor to complete and present a capstone project.

Application Process

Applications will be accepted each winter for the upcoming academic year. Residents may apply during or after their intern year, with at least two years left in their residency, so that they can complete the two-year track. Residents must be in good academic standing and receive approval from their program director. Fellows may also apply, however residents will be given priority in the application process.

Applications for the July 2024-2025 cohort will be available January 2024.

Curriculum

Below is a sample of topics covered during our two-year didactic curriculum:

Health disparities & the social determinants of health
Health care inequity & health justice
Racial inequity & implicit bias in medical education
Health policy & health care reform

Violence as a public health crisis
Community medicine & engagement
Mental health care & substance abuse
Homelessness and street medicine
Refugee and migrant health

Human trafficking
LGBTQ health
Public health & emergency preparedness
Advocacy & leadership

Site Visits

Hotel Arboretum with Unity Health Care
Senator Joe Manchin’s Office
Asylee Women Enterprise
The National Academy of Medicine
Bread for the City
MedStar Community Violence Intervention Program
Annapolis State House Visit

Electives

Participants in the Social Medicine & Health Equity Track are expected to dedicate at least two weeks of their elective time to a rotation in the spirit of the track.

MedStar/GUSOM

Georgetown School of Medicine Health Policy Elective
Through this elective, participants can take a deeper dive into health policy. “The Larger Context: Health Systems, Policy, and Public Health for Clinicians” is a collaborative effort that will bring residents, students, and policy makers together to experience and learn the health care system through lectures from national experts and site visits. The course will illustrate how the patients you have been caring for in your clinical rotations in the hospital and in the community are affected by the larger health care system. Our faculty lecturers, as well as invited outside experts who work in health policy and public health organizations, will speak to the students about important health system issues and how to incorporate public health and public policy knowledge into their future careers. We will take advantage of our training location in the nation’s capital and have the students visit various health policy and public health agencies and institutions. The course is a four-week elective for medical students, the first two weeks of the elective are open to residents.
MedStar Internal Medicine Social Medicine & Health Equity Elective
Through this elective, participants can take a deeper dive into community medicine and the social determinants of health. This two-week Baltimore-based rotation will provide residents with a unique opportunity to learn about the world of social medicine and how population and community health initiatives work to address its various components. Baltimore-based internal medicine residents will be given priority for a space in this elective.
MedStar Washington Hospital Center Community Violence Intervention Program Elective
Through this elective, participants learn about MedStar’s Community Violence Intervention Program (CVIP) and how CVIP helps patients who are victims of violent injury recover, reduce violent re-injury, and address specific needs of survivors with the goal of breaking the cycle of violence in communities.

Domestic

Indian Health Service sites:
- Chinle, Arizona: Family Medicine, Internal Medicine
- Zuni, New Mexico: Med-Peds, Family Medicine
- Fort Defiance, Arizona: Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Surgery
No language requirement for this high-quality clinical experience in the Navajo Nation. Experiences vary based on specialty and clinical site. Housing is provided.
UCSD Asylum Seeker Medical Screening & Stabilization Program
US Asylum Seekers are brought from the Mexican border by Department of Homeland Security to this shelter and clinic where 24-7 stabilization care is provided. Acute and Chronic medical issues are addressed for adults and children of all ages, including pregnant women.
D.C. Department of Health
No language requirement for this local opportunity in the District of Columbia. At this clinical rotation site, residents gain experience in a variety of infectious diseases in a diverse patient population.
Whitman-Walker Clinic
Whitman-Walker Health elective is a longitudinal clinic experience focused on providing primary care to persons living with HIV. Residents who rotate here have the opportunity to learn the clinical skills needed to provide cultural and gender-affirming care, manage HIV, and prescribe PReP and PEP. They will also learn the social determinants and equity barriers that exist for this unique population, and DC-based resources to address these issues. Past participants have done 2 half days every clinic block with their preceptor.

Additional rotation sites may be approved on a case by case basis.

Testimonials for the Social Medicine & Health Equity Track

Sahil Angelo

“The Social Medicine and Health Equity Track is easily my favorite component of residency. The monthly meetings consistently provide the knowledge and nuance needed to understand topics such as homelessness, the opioid epidemic, refugee health, etc. I particularly love the academic half days, because they feature vastly different models of how we as physicians can address disparities. Although the track is designed to provide a broad understanding of social medicine and health equity, I have also been able to deepen my interests in teaching social medicine, disparities among the HIV/AIDS population, and health policy through the electives and capstone project.

The SHME community has also been extremely important to me. It consists of colleagues from different residencies across the MedStar system, and I feel comfortable reaching out to the group to get dinner, share articles and discuss current events, go to conferences, advocacy events, etc. I love hearing and learning from my co-resident’s perspectives. Furthermore, the leadership is very intentional about finding mentors to help us with our projects and overall professional development. I am grateful this track was created and the opportunity to be part of its inaugural class, as it has catalyzed my personal and professional growth.”

Crystal Pristell

“I was so excited when the Social Medicine Health Equity Track became available to residents at the end of my intern year. Not only have I become a part of a group of residents that share the same passion for advocacy, but I have learned to incorporate social determinants of health into patient care.

The connections I have made through this opportunity have opened the door to several electives in homeless and social medicine. Even more, the mentorship and guidance have encouraged me to pursue fellowship training. I am confident that with the information I have gained from this experience, I am providing more inclusive, patient-centered care to the most vulnerable.”