Course objectives. At end of course students will be able to:

• provide care to patients sensitive to health beliefs, cultural context, literacy, access to care, and financial resources
• use health data to set priorities for practice based interventions.
• lobby state and federal representatives on issues of health disparity
• describe:

• safety net system in the United States including Community Health Centers, Health Departments, Academic Health Centers as well as private practices
• changes in Medicaid and Medicare
• local initiatives to improve care for the uninsured and underinsured

Course description: Disparities on the basis of race, ethnicity, and income are a major unresolved health problem. This course will provide hand-on experiences and structured learning for students interested in reducing health disparities as part of a career in primary care, academic medicine, public health, or health policy. Students will have the opportunity to see and work in a variety of innovative care settings that serve ethnic minorities and indigent patients. These include: a) Piedmont Health Services – a nationally-recognized network of community health centers; b) state and local health departments – an aspect of care provision that is important and often not well understood by med school graduates; c) Community Care of North Carolina – a pilot project (the only one of its kind in the nation) designed to raise the quality and coordination of care for North Carolina’s Medicaid population. The student’s experience will include a mix of direct patient care, exposure to leaders and leadership roles, and seminars with faculty. The course will conclude with students spending time in Raleigh meeting with legislators to discuss issues of health disparity.

Maximum number of students 8
Course offered block 5