Timeline & Progress
Year 1 (2021-2022)
- Build the infrastructure to create positive change on social justice within the curriculum.
- Build infrastructure, partnerships, vision, best practices.
- Complete curricular needs assessments
- Establish and Act on Curricular Harm Reduction Priorities
- Develop and lead a coalition to adapt the Health and Society (H&S) course for March 2022
- Build workstreams focusing on: Content/process; Assessment; Communication; Faculty Development and Consultation; Technology; Student Support; Evaluation/Continuous Quality Improvement
- Eight new Curricular Component Liaisons (CCLs) will build relationships and structures to partner effectively with curricular leaders across the curriculum to:
- Review/adapt current curricular components with an anti-oppressive lens
- Begin integrating new content and approaches longitudinally into the curriculum
- Launch AOC Task Forces on Race/Ethnicity in clinical cases, and Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in clinical cases
- Form AOC Initiative-Student Collaborative and develop processes for student voices and input into the AOC Initiative’s efforts
- Develop blueprint for patient- and community-centered narratives
- Read more about the AOC Initiative’s first year of progress
Year 2 (2022-2023)
- Continue to review and adapt curricular content with an anti-oppressive lens
- Begin to integrate new anti-oppressive content and teaching approaches into the curriculum
- Begin to develop novel assessment approaches to anti-oppression content
- Continue to build and work with a coalition to redesign Health and the Individual (H&I) / Health and Society (H&S) courses
- Launch AOC Task Forces on other key topic areas (e.g., disability/strategies to work against ableism)
- Obtain stakeholder feedback on core AOC-linked faculty competencies
- Expand faculty development and faculty consultation strategies
- Pilot para-curricular support mechanisms for students
- Establish blueprint for community involvement in the curriculum and pilot approaches
Year 3 (2023-2024)
- Continue to review and adapt curricular content with an anti-oppressive lens
- Continue to integrate new anti-oppressive content and teaching approaches into the curriculum
- Pilot novel assessment approaches to anti-oppression content
- Launch fully transformed approach to Health and the Individual (H&I) / Health and Society (H&S) course content
- Continue to expand faculty consultation and coaching strategies
- Launch campaign for faculty development tied to core AOC-linked faculty competencies
- Integrate para-curricular support mechanisms for students
- Launch infrastructure for community involvement in the curriculum
Progress to Date
In addition to assembling and launching a team with diverse perspectives and backgrounds, visioning, in consultation with internal and external experts, gathering input from stakeholders, reviewing and evaluating available instructional resources, reviewing and adapting curricular content with an anti-oppressive lens are all underway.
While the initial phase of the AOC initiative is three years, like all social justice work, developing and sustaining movement towards an anti-oppressive curriculum, as well as towards anti-oppressive processes and policies will require a commitment to ongoing, continuous effort across the School of Medicine. At the end of the initiative’s three years, the AOC Initiative team expects to deliver a roadmap for the next steps necessary to help UCSF continue to move toward more fully embodying the anti-racism, anti-oppressive values it aspires to.
Setting the Vision
To be successful, the AOC Initiative must set a clear vision and identify concrete objectives. To identify meaningful goals, the AOC Initiative team is leveraging the experience of well-known health and health care equity experts and will continue to seek input from a broad range of stakeholders including students, alumni, faculty, staff, patients, and community members. The AOC Initiative team has been fortunate to consult with UCSF Presidential Chair Award Recipient Dr. Camara Jones to outline the vision and goals for the AOC Initiative.
Gathering Input
In December 2021, an AOCI-Student Collaborative was launched with 19 students recruited from across all current medical students. The members of the Student Collaborative provide feedback on both high-level strategy and detailed aspects of the workstreams. A representative from the Student Collaborative has joined the Student Supergroup as a standing member to share updates and gather feedback from leaders of medical student groups on campus. The Student Collaborative is facilitated by Alli Gomez, Class of ‘25 and Jessica Ma, Class of '25, in their roles as AOC Initiative’s interns during their Yearlong Inquiry Fellowship, with support from Denise Connor, MD.
Reviewing and Adapting Curricular Content
- Curriculum Needs Assessments
Working in partnership with curricular leaders, each of the CCLs has completed an initial needs assessment with the curricular elements they are partnered with. The CCLs are engaged in a ‘harm reduction’ review of curricular content, in partnership with curricular leaders, and are working on adaptations to curricular sessions as well as setting priorities for future curricular transformation.
- Topic-Based Task Forces
The AOC Initiative team has charged four topic-based task forces, focused on Race & Ethnicity, Sex/ Gender/ Sexuality (SGS), Disability and Working Against Ableism, and Weight Bias. The task forces review how these identities are presented in clinical cases. Task forces include faculty, staff, and student members, and plan to engage community consultants. The task forces expect to deliver recommendations that can be used throughout the curriculum in 2023-2024.
The Race and Ethnicity & Sex, Gender & Sexuality (SGS) Task Force 1.0 Draft Recommendations were shared with internal faculty, staff, and students in May 2023. The Executive Summary was made publicly available in June 2023. The Disability and Working Against Ableism Task Force launched in May 2023, and the Weight Bias Task Force is expected in Fall 2023.
- Assessing Image and Video Assets
- Reviewing Video Content
The Technology Enhanced Education (TEE) and AOC Initiative teams have initiated a process for reviewing all video content used throughout the Bridges Curriculum with an anti-oppressive lens. The video review process involves:
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Reviewing each video and relevant materials
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Coordinating with anti-oppression curricular experts, such as Curricular Component Liaisons (CCLs), to remove and re-create video content to avoid harmful bias, stereotypes, and exclusionary language
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Working as necessary with curricular leaders to develop new or revised curricular content that reflects an anti-oppressive approach
As of September 2023, the majority of courses in Foundations 1 of the Bridges Curriculum have completed the longitudinal review of all UCSF-created video content with an anti-oppressive lens. Flagged videos are being re-created to incorporate anti-oppressive approaches.
Every video lecture in F1 includes a notification that informs students about the AOC video review process, describes where each video stands in that process, and invites student feedback. All Foundations 1 UCSF-created video content is expected to be fully reviewed and updated by July 2025.
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- 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.
- Reviewing Video Content
- Health and Society Course Revision
In March 2022, the Health and Society block was adapted with a goal of minimizing the risk of curricular harm and preserving key learning. The AOC Initiative team reviewed each session and made recommendations about the content and pedagogy. Internal and external consultants with expertise in anti-racism, along with student partners from the AOCI-Student collaborative, developed recommendations for session adaptations and shared these with session developers who worked to implement those recommendations. Given the short timeline, some sessions were placed on hold to allow more time for adaptation. Consultants also developed and led new lectures and panels during the H&S block and offered office hours for student debriefs along with members of the AOC Initiative. The Student Support Team also offered space for students to reflect and debrief in affinity groups. Learn more in the Approach to Health & Society Course Revision update from the deans.
- The Social, Structural and Behavioral Course Visioning Working Group
Co-Chaired by Dr. Monica Hahn and Dr. Kate Lupton, the Social, Structural and Behavioral (SSB) Course Visioning Working Group first convened in late October 2022. The SSB Working Group was created with the charge of re-imaging the course, Health & Society/Health & the Individual, at a critical time when a search for new leadership for this course was underway, in alignment with larger efforts to integrate an anti-oppression lens into the overall SOM curriculum.
In Fall 2023, the Visioning Working Group, having shared recommendations with school leaders, is transitioning to an on-going Advisory Group. The Advisory Group will include students, faculty and staff and will provide feedback and input to the course leadership team on big-picture curricular questions/pilots (e.g., specific assessment strategies, new pedagogy approaches) as well as on exemplars used to bring the course goals to life. The AOCI team will also continue to collaborate with the course leadership team as it continues efforts to enhance this portion of the curriculum.
6. AOC Initiative Curricular Review Tool and Consultations
The AOC Initiative team has developed a Curricular Review Tool to guide UCSF faculty teaching medical students in the Bridges Curriculum in how to begin to integrate anti-oppressive practices in curricular content and approaches. The AOC Initiative Curricular Review Tool is designed to raise questions that warrant in-depth review and discussion during the session adaptation and development phase; it aims to provide guidance on anti-oppressive (AO) considerations and to create an opportunity for faculty to share recommendations and identify decisions that need to be made collaboratively.
After using the AOC Initiative Curricular Review Tool to begin evaluating course materials, faculty members are encouraged to partner with the CCL affiliated with their curricular content or to sign-up for an AOCI consultation, facilitated by Dr. Michelle Guy (the AOCI leader for faculty development). Monthly AOCI faculty consultations aim to provide additional support and guidance in applying anti-oppressive practices in curricular content and approaches. Interested faculty members may sign up for curriculum consultation appointments via the AOC Initiative Course Materials Consultations form.
Faculty Development
The AOC Initiative team is continuously developing and curating resources that inform and support faculty as they strive to create more inclusive learning environments. Review the AOC Initiative Resources and Tools.
A curated resource list was developed to help all clinical faculty members increase their skill in creating equitable, inclusive, welcoming, and actively anti-oppressive learning environments. The AOC Initiative Resources for the Clinical Learning Environment were shared with clinical faculty in February 2022 in coordination with the start of a new group of students joining Foundations 2. A set of faculty competencies is currently being developed to provide guidance for different types of educators as they continue to build their skills and knowledge in the areas of inclusion, equity, and anti-oppression.
Student Support
Throughout the duration of the AOC Initiative, Denise Davis will provide student support and group mentoring that honors medical students as whole beings and developing professionals.
Quarterly Anti-Oppression Updates Newsletter
Each quarter, we send an Anti-Oppression Updates newsletter to current UCSF medical students sharing our collective progress on the efforts of the Anti-Oppression Curriculum Initiative (AOCI) and overarching School of Medicine Anti-Oppression (AO) Charter.
Review archives of our quarterly Anti-Oppression Updates newsletter:
