VP&S Equity and Justice Fellowship

Mission 

The mission of the VP&S Equity and Justice Fellowship is to increase equity and justice through curricular programming. Each year, the fellowship class works with Dr. Hetty Cunningham (Director of Equity and Justice in Curricular Affairs) on a variety of projects determined by the fellowship group, critically applying an anti-racist lens to the VP&S curriculum. Please see below for current and past fellows and ongoing projects.

History 

The VP&S Equity and Justice program was established in 2020 to create a central structure for ongoing work in anti-racist curricular programing. The fellowship was established to engage students in school efforts to create a more equitable and just curriculum at VP&S. By offering these funded fellowships, VP&S seeks to take a step toward countering systemic racism and other unjust power imbalances that continue to oppress large swaths of the population and crucially result in adverse health outcomes and distrust of the medical system. 

Projects 

Some 2023 Equity and Justice Fellowship group projects include:

• Development of a longitudinal anti-racism thread for all 4 years  - including sub-threads of carceral care and LQBTQ health
• Development and delivery of annual History of Racism in Medicine lecture
• Development, evaluation, and facilitation of Anti-Racism at the Bedside workshop for rising M2 students
• Launch of month-long Anti-Racist Health Equity Elective
• House staff mentoring program for VP&S students from groups that are underrepresented in medicine

Some past projects include:

• Assisting with an Anti-Racism Curriculum Summit for student and faculty education leaders
• Collaborating with faculty to evaluate medical student assessment in the clinical curriculum 
• Assisting with microaggressions training workshop development

Resources 

• VP&S Guidelines for Promoting a Bias-Free and Inclusive Curriculum 
• VP&S Student Feedback Form for Promoting a Bias-Free and Inclusive Curriculum