Mission Statement

Our mission is to help train medical students interested in serving medically underserved populations in urban settings.

Throughout UHS member's education, students are encouraged to become competent practitioners, researchers, and public advocates for underserved urban populations. In order to accomplish this goal, UHS aspires to graduate medical students who are scholars in the following areas.

  1. Cultural Competency: We encourage students to pursue further education in understanding cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic factors that affect underserved patients' access to health care and health care outcomes in urban areas.
  2. Service & Outreach: UHS is currently partnering with Central High School in Manchester, NH. The focus of the program is health education for youth. UHS students are encouraged to participate in the Manchester program, but may also take part in other urban service opportunities.
  3. Continued Education: We support our students to continue their education both through formal and informal studies in their pursuit to serve urban populations.
  4. Clinical Medicine: UHS has helped bring to fruition urban clerkships and On Doctoring experiences for DMS students, and is working to develop further clinical opportunities in urban areas.
  5. The DMS Community: In addition to supporting the UHS scholars' in their education and training to work with underserved urban populations, UHS aims to improve the cultural competency, service and clinical opportunities, and awareness of the issues facing urban communities for all students at DMS.

The Urban Health Scholars aims to improve the understanding of the needs of diverse urban populations and to give our scholars the tools to positively impact the health of these communities in their future careers as practitioners in medically underserved urban settings.