AOCI Resources and Tools
The AOCI is committed to empowering both learners and educators to take action to advance health justice and equity. Faculty educators are key partners and changemakers and are essential to the success of diversity, equity, belonging, and anti-oppression efforts within the School of Medicine. The AOCI is dedicated to developing and curating resources in partnership with the Center for Faculty Educators (CFE) that inform and support faculty as they strive to create more inclusive and welcoming learning environments and to advance students' health equity-linked skills.
Key Concepts
While the following topics are in no way a comprehensive list of areas for which deep learning, care, and clarity are needed, they represent an important starting point to support inclusive and welcoming learning and caring environments:
- Race and Ethnicity are social identities and are distinct from Ancestry/Genetics/Biology
- Gender is a social identity and is distinct from Sex Characteristics/Biology/Genetics/Anatomy
- Gender identity includes a diverse spectrum; binary categories of man/woman; boy/girl are woefully inadequate in representing the gender identity of all individuals
- Person-first language should be our reflex approach when discussing patients (e.g., Mr. X is a 67-year-old man with diabetes (last HbA1c 13.5) as opposed to Mr. X is a 67-year-old diabetic), though it is also important for clinicians to attend to the preferred language of those seeking care (e.g., many in the Deaf community consider their deafness as a part of their social identity and prefer identity-first language such as Deaf person).
As the AOCI continues to evolve, the core team will continue to develop expanded resources and opportunities for faculty development in collaboration with the CFE and other partners. Faculty members interested in exploring the fundamentals of Anti-oppressive and Anti-racist Education are encouraged to visit the Center for Faculty Educators (CFE) for available resources. We are grateful to the many faculty members who are deeply committed to principles of equity and anti-oppression, and to life-long learning—Thank you for joining us in this important endeavor.
AOCI Resources for the Clinical Learning Environment
Creating an equitable, inclusive, welcoming, and actively anti-oppressive clinical learning environment is critical to the success of our students and to our core UCSF values. These environments also have a direct impact on our patients and colleagues. Developing skills and expanding our perspectives and knowledge to create equitable environments is a life-long process for all of us.
To help support and inspire this work, the Anti-Oppression Curriculum Initiative core team has organized a curated list of resources for clinical teachers. Many of these resources are brief (1-2 page) articles and short videos designed for busy faculty actively teaching in the clinical environment. They are meant as a starting point; different faculty will have different learning needs.
AOCI Curricular Review
AOCI Curricular Review Tool
The AOCI team has developed a Curricular Review Tool to guide UCSF faculty in how to begin to integrate anti-oppressive practices in curricular content and approaches. The goal of the AOCI Curricular Review Tool is to raise questions that warrant in-depth review and discussion during session adaptation and development. We continue to review and update this tool regularly.
Task Force Draft Recommendations
Three AOCI Task Forces have developed draft recommendations for best practices related to sharing information about patients' race, ethnicity, sex, gender, and sexuality in classroom teaching cases in the pre-clerkship portions of the UCSF Bridges Curriculum, as well as on topics related to disability and countering ableism in our curriculum. As these concepts are nuanced and evolving, the draft recommendations will undergo continued review and revision.
View the following executive summaries to learn more about these efforts:
AOCI Curricular Consultations
If, after using the AOCI Curricular Review Tool, UCSF faculty designing sessions for the Bridges curriculum would like additional support and guidance in applying anti-oppressive practices in curricular content and approaches, individual consultations are available. To request curriculum consultation appointments, please email aoci@ucsf.edu.
The Inclusive Skin Color Project
The Inclusive Skin Color Project is a collaborative effort between the School of Medicine's Anti-Oppression Curriculum (AOC) Initiative, the UCSF Library, and the Department of Dermatology to improve the discoverability of resources that represent the full spectrum of skin color. Providing plentiful examples of conditions in a range of skin tones improves medical students', trainees', and physicians' abilities to accurately identify clinical signs and, consequently, provide excellent patient care.
Evaluation Plan for Anti-Oppression Education
The UCSF School of Medicine has developed and implemented an Evaluation Plan for Anti-Oppression Education that engages students, staff, and faculty to identify, respond to, and learn from education oppression events in all four years of the Bridges Curriculum. UCSF’s evaluation plan is designed to guide medical educators and medical schools in a systems approach that proactively and collaboratively recognizes outstanding anti-oppression education practices and responds to education oppression events.
Education Oppression Support Resources
Education oppression can cause education trauma, impacting emotional and physical well-being and learning for students, and can sustain false understandings that ultimately impact patient care. UCSF is committed to addressing education oppression and supporting learners who have experienced trauma in their education. Below is a list of services and resources provided for those experiencing education trauma. We encourage you to seek support.
Support Services for Medical Students Experiencing Education Trauma
