In 1991, what started as a precepting/ shadowing experience for medical students from David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA has now transformed into a multi-level mentorship program involving high school, undergrads, post-bacs, gap year and medical students, along with family medicine residents in multi-level bi-directional mentoring relationships.
Mission
Summer Urban Health Fellowship aims to provide mentorship to individuals at all levels of their educational journey, especially those who have been traditionally marginalized from the health professions, to become healers and social justice advocates in life-long commitment to the underserved.
Vision
We believe that a world where every individual is able to reach their highest educational (and human) potential regardless of ethnicity, gender, income, or other human created barriers is possible.
In the 1980s and 1990s many patients repeatedly were utilizing the Harbor-UCLA medical center Emergency Department for basic medical care including medication refills and for other “ambulatory care sensitive chronic conditions” that if managed by a primary care physician would not have lead to poor health outcomes in these individuals. A more in-depth analysis indicated that majority of these patients came from surrounding communities especially from the 90744 zip code of the Wilmington community. Wilmington was a predominantly monolingual Spanish speaking immigrant community with a large proportion of its population living below the poverty level. It was designated a Health Professional Shortage area (HPSA) with less than one primary care physician for over 7000 population members. (A HPSA designation being any community with less than 1 primary care physician for 3000 population members.) Despite being surrounded by five oil refineries and the 2nd largest port in the world, Wilmington residents only saw the pollution effects of these industries while the wealth just passed through the city.
In 1991, then chair of Harbor-UCLA Department of Family Medicine, Dr. Patrick Dowling, recognized that individuals likely to go back and work in HPSAs are those individuals who come from the community, are mission driven or have experiences working in these marginalized communities. In 1991, 5 medical students from DGSOM participated in the Summer Urban Preceptorship shadowing Family Medicine Residents and physicians working in the underserved community of Wilmington.
present
Since then nearly 1000 students have participated in the Summer Urban Health Fellowship. It has expanded from the 5 medical students to include high school students, undergraduates, post bacs,and resident physicians. It has expanded from shadowing physicians in the clinic and learning about primary care in the clinic to working in the community, organizing health fairs, conducting health education, conducting community engaged participatory research, learning about structural racism and the root causes of social injustice and ill health in our communities. Instead of physician educators, the community and the fellows are the real teachers. It has grown beyond the 6-weeks of the summer to year long mentoring relationships. We have learned from the resilience of the communities who have suffered much. As the curriculum continues to grow we learn about decolonizing our minds, raising our critical consciousness, and accompanying those who have suffered the most among us. We are learning not just about the causes but become advocates for health and justice. All of this is done through a community of fellows learning and supporting each other in long-term mentoring relationships. We welcome you to join this community!