This concentration seeks to enhance students' awareness of the complexities of the U.S. health care system and circumstances that may inhibit the provision of patient-centered care. Community Health & Wellness leaders will assist students with participation in activities intended to mitigate differences through research, volunteering, community interventions, and peer education.

Students appropriate for this concentration include those who are interested in treating patients from a variety of socioeconomic and geographic backgrounds; providing care in settings with low ratios of physicians to patients such as high-density urban centers or rural communities; researching differences in health care outcomes based on factors that impact health care. 

Curriculum

Students attend monthly journal club meetings which involve group readings, guest lecturers, student presentations, and field visits to various community sites.

Students in the Community Health & Wellness Scholarly Concentration will participate in required activities as well as individually negotiated experiences. Over the span of 4 years, students are responsible for logging a minimum of 180 contact hours toward completion of requirements for the concentration

Opportunities

• Exposure to advocates, community leaders, and academicians addressing subjects based on student interest, current events, and ongoing research. 
• Sharing of personal experience that help describe opportunities for improvement
• Learning about the impact of integrated health care that addresses many social determinants of health including mental health, social circumstance and medical conditions
• Flexibility to address current events related to health differences 

Examples of Student Scholarly Work

• Quality improvement on vaccination barriers at BRIDGE clinic: how to better prevent and protect
• Evaluating Impact of Dental Varnish Program in Jarabocoa, Dominican Republic
• Water, sanitation, and hygiene in a semi-rural community of Nicaragua
• Assessing the burden of chronic disease (ABCD) among the uninsured of Tampa Bay: judeo Christian clinic

Faculty Leadership

Gwendolyn (Tina) Clayton, MD

Kabeel Dosani, PhD

Anna Maynard Wenders, MPH, CHES

Daniel Haight, MD

Shirley Smith, MA