Launched in July 2021, the Anti-Oppression Curriculum Initiative (AOCI) aims to reinforce and expand the work of Differences Matter and the Bridges Curriculum’s Social Justice pillar while accelerating our focus on anti-oppression and equity across our four-year curriculum. The AOCI is the key curricular element of the UCSF School of Medicine’s anti-oppression work.
The AOCI team initiative is engaging in a collaborative, longitudinal process of reflection, evaluation, and evolution necessary to build an increasingly responsive, anti-oppression curriculum to support students in their learning, helping them prepare to partner with individuals seeking care and with communities to advance health equity.
The UCSF School of Medicine and AOCI are engaged in this work with deep humility and with an understanding of the significant distance between current curricular content and approaches and the aspiration for the curriculum to embody a consistent and nuanced anti-racism, anti-oppression stance.
Over the three-year duration of the first phase of the AOCI, internal and external expertise representing a range of perspectives were leveraged to review and begin to adapt the Bridges Curriculum using an anti-racist, anti-oppressive lens. With the help of faculty, students, staff, and community members, content and methods that reinforce oppressive beliefs, values, and approaches were identified and iteratively revised in partnership with educational leaders to incorporate anti-oppressive content and approaches, with the goal of integrating this lens across all four years of our curriculum.
The AOCI transitioned to its second phase in September, 2024, welcoming new team members and continuing to work towards the goal of an increasingly anti-oppressive curriculum. During this phase, the AOCI will build on the foundation established in the Initiative’s initial three years. As part of its ongoing work, the AOCI will continue to make recommendations for sustainability and next steps to the Deans with the goal of ensuring that UCSF School of Medicine continues on this critical path for years to come.
The mission of the AOCI is to prepare all UCSF medical students to assume their critical role in partnering with those seeking care and with communities to work against oppression and advance health equity.
Throughout this ongoing process of evaluation, reflection, and evolution, 4 core principles emerged in our work with our many partners that we aim to continue to center as we move into our next phase:
Community Collaboration and Care
Partner with our community respectfully by following through on commitments, centering the needs of impacted persons, emphasizing healing over alienation, and restoring respect, dignity and care through collaborative approaches.
Truth and Transparency
Clearly identify and address instances of racism and other forms of oppression, while acknowledging our early stage of change in medicine, and resisting an "a-historical stance."
Cultural Humility and Radically Inclusive Listening
Engage with humility and listen inclusively and with welcome to all perspectives, valuing each voice.
Active Resistance
Actively challenge and counter the tenets of white supremacy culture.
Many forms of oppression are deeply engrained in the history and modern-day practice of health care, as well as in medical education itself.
We have gathered a diverse team to begin the challenging work of critically questioning and advancing our curriculum, processes, and policies to move towards equity and anti-oppression throughout our medical school.
This work is essential to developing future physicians and health care leaders who will have the mindset and skills to partner with patients and communities to optimize health for all.
Denise Connor, MD
Director, Anti-Oppression Curriculum Initiative
Share your feedback!
To share general feedback with the AOCI, please contact our AOCI team.
To provide specific feedback on the curriculum, students can use the SAFE (Supporting A Fair and Equitable Environment) form. The SAFE form is a method for students to share their experience in the Bridges Curriculum with the School leadership.
To report incidents of discrimination, students can use the SAFE (Supporting A Fair and Equitable Environment) form.
