University of California San Francisco
UCSF School of Medicine UCSF Medical Center

Getting Involved

Addressing and dismantling structural racism and oppression and focusing on health equity within the UCSF Bridges Curriculum requires a collaborative and sustained effort from staff, students, faculty, and community partnerships. Regular reflection and candor, open communication, and a growth mindset are essential to creating lasting change within the School of Medicine.  

If you are interested in participating in the AOCI, please share your experience, expertise, voice, and input please contact us at [email protected]. 

See below for other ways to get involved.

Faculty and Staff

Explore opportunities to collaborate with colleagues, students, and community partners to identify and dismantle structural racism and oppression and to enhance our focus on health equity.

Some potential starting points include: 

  • Build, expand, and share your anti-oppression (AO) network and equity network

  • Create brave and collaborative spaces for dialogue 

  • Join AO and equity committees, task forces, workstreams or action groups on a project-by-project basis 

  • Attend classes or workshops to further your AO and equity education  

  • Review work practices and identify AO and equity goals with your team, change systems and structures 

  • Acknowledge and uplift colleagues who embody AO and equity principles or engage in AO equity work 

  • Ensure that AO/equity work is elevated and highlighted on leadership agendas, communications, and staff meetings 

  • Share feedback about AO and equity with colleagues  

  • Work to incorporate and uplift diverse community perspectives, voices, and experiences that reflect a broad range of cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds in your educational efforts 

Students

AOCI Student-Collaborative 

The student members of the AOCI-Student Collaborative share recommendations and new ideas for the AOCI and our partners, and provide feedback on both high-level strategy and detailed aspects of our curricular efforts. The AOCI-Student Collaborative also works closely with the Curriculum Governance team. The AOCI-Student Collaborative meets twice monthly in the evening, usually over Zoom. 

Review the AOCI Team Structure webpage for more information on the AOCI-Student Collaborative. The AOCI-Student Collaborative recruits in late-fall for new student members, but we also welcome new members on a rolling basis. To express interest in joining, please contact the AOCI team at [email protected]. 

Curriculum Ambassador Program

The Summer Curriculum Ambassador Program provides a funded fellowship opportunity for students during the summer between MS1 and MS2 to partner with faculty members to work on curricular projects related to the AOCI.

AOCI Yearlong Fellowship

The Yearlong AOCI Fellowship role is ideal for students who are taking a year off from the medical school curriculum and are deeply engaged in advancing medical education and institutional change towards anti-oppression and equity. Fellows play pivotal roles on the AOCI team, including planning and facilitating Student Collaborative meetings,  providing peer mentorship to students working on linked projects, conducting research and curriculum innovation projects to help us to advance our efforts, and developing and refining recommendations for key AOCI task forces and working groups. AOCI Student Fellows actively engage with faculty and student groups, conveying feedback and shaping a more anti-oppressive and welcoming curriculum to help us move closer to our goal of advancing health equity through medical education. 

In 2021-2022, medical student Jazzmin Williams joined the AOCI as the first year-long fellow, working on a wide range of projects including a patient narrative project, the AOCI-Student Collaborative, and the race and ethnicity task force, among others.

In summer 2023, medical students Alli Gomez and Jessica Ma joined the AOCI as our team's year-long fellows. Alli and Jessica worked on a wide range of projects including an innovative differentiated learning pilot to tailor learning to students’ prior expertise, a needs assessment on experiences related to policing and carcerality in medicine, continued refinement of recommendations of the Race and Ethnicity and Sex, Gender and Sexuality Task Forces, facilitation of the AOCI-Student Collaborative, building new faculty development resources to support faculty in creating an anti-oppressive and welcoming learning environment, among many others. 

In summer 2024, Jessa Culver joined the AOCI as a year-long fellow. Jessa's focus is on collaborating with many partners to develop a sustainable approach for fostering collaborations with community members to integrate community voices and engagement into medical education. As part of Jessa's fellowship, Jessa also leads the AOCI-Student Collaborative, mentors fellow students, contributes to curricular adaptation and innovations, participates in AOCI Task Forces and working groups, and engages in scholarly projects to advance anti-oppression and equity in medical education.

To learn more about the AOCI Yearlong Fellowship, please contact the  AOCI team.

Additional Opportunities

For additional opportunities to get involved, students can also connect with UCSF student organizations.