MCLIN 250 - INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDICINE

[25 Hours]

The purpose of this elective is to promote second year LSU medical student learning related to issues of discrimination and inequity and their effects on their health outcomes. This elective is designed to build on the Critical Consciousness in Medicine workshops during the first year of medical school. Critical Consciousness in Medicine is a series of four workshops that engage first year LSU medical students in conversations about personal identity and values, privilege, health disparities, and implicit bias with the goals of (1) instilling professionalism, humanism, and cultural openness and humility in medical students; and (2) inspiring a worldview that is more complex, inclusive, and oriented toward moral action. This elective shares the overarching goals of the Critical Consciousness in Medicine workshops. More specifically, this course aims to advance students’ understanding of issues that are at the root of health inequities and to activate their leadership to participate in equitable systems change, both as medical students and as future physicians. More broadly, this elective will add to the array of equity-oriented learning opportunities for medical students at LSU. Student learning will occur through a series of seminars led by LSU faculty with assistance from students, residents, and invited guest speakers from the New Orleans community; independent readings; and online learning modules.