Schools with social justice focus?

[premed770]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi everyone! My first post here 🙂

I have a lot of experience and extracurricular activities centered around social justice, specifically LGBTQ+, and I was wondering which MD schools are known to be receptive to this kind of experience (think lawsuit related etc) and have more opportunities to be involved in social justice in med school. Thanks!

 

[LizzyM]

Your grades, scores and activities are going to dictate which schools are viable options for you. Give us that list and we'll tell you which of those schools are going to be most focused on social justice. We could give you a list of schools but if they are out of your league, you are no better off than before.

Pro tip: don't put Loma Linda on your list.

 

[seanm028]

Pro tip: don't put Loma Linda on your list.

😂

 

[jojofu]

From the schools I applied to (for the same reason as you): UChicago (very much so), UCSF, BU, Pitt, Duke.

 

[MyOdyssey]

From the schools I applied to (for the same reason as you): UChicago (very much so), UCSF, BU, Pitt, Duke.

Do these schools weigh social justice experience heavily in admissions or do they incorporate social justice issues into their curriculum?

 

[Goro]

Your grades, scores and activities are going to dictate which schools are viable options for you. Give us that list and we'll tell you which of those schools are going to be most focused on social justice. We could give you a list of schools but if they are out of your league, you are no better off than before.

Pro tip: don't put Loma Linda on your list.

Or LUCOM!

 

[deleted1119327]

I think Georgetown is well-known for social justice.

 

[Talldoctor96]

All the jesuit schools: Georgetown, Loyola, Creightoon, saint Louis?. Then you have schools like RUSH. Frankly you'll come to find many schools have social justice leans. Such as EVMS and VCU which are virginia state schools. Also schools like Drexel.

 

[frosty42]

UVM, Temple, Cooper Rowan, Rush, BU, UChicago

Any school that emphasizes social justice in their mission will be attracted to those values in their applicants. I personally have a social justice/health equity/service focused app and so far, that has been reflected by the schools I have received interview invitations from.

 

[Dogruffle01]

Don't quote me but I'm pretty sure at my Uchicago interview the dean said 40% of the class was LGBTQ+ one year, and comparable since. In the student session social justice was a very focused concern.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Don't quote me but I'm pretty sure at my Uchicago interview the dean said 40% of the class was LGBTQ+ one year, and comparable since. In the student session social justice was a very focused concern.

What does UChicago consider social justice?

 

[Dogruffle01]

What does UChicago consider social justice?

Uhhhh this was my first interview so my mind is a bit hazy. I remember them saying: changing Boystown cause it only accommodated white gay men, having most of the class stay in Hyde Park to be around their patient population ( disadvantaged POC), student clinics, community garden, mentoring for troubled youth, a focus on health policy for systemic racism. A big portion of the initial curriculum is anti-racism and community awareness lectures. Stuff like that.

 

[Dogruffle01]

I don't know if I'd consider it "social justice" to overwhelmingly just accept rich students.

Around 15% of last years class come from disadvantaged backgrounds and 24% were from medically underserved areas.

Considering the low amount of disadvantaged students who have the stats/activities to go to Chicago, that’s a fairly large amount .

 

[eltoroloco]

Brown and Rush come to mind

 

[YCAGA]

I don't know if I'd consider it "social justice" to overwhelmingly just accept rich students.

You just excluded almost every medical school in the world, although I would change rich to overwhelmingly upper half of family income.

 

[YCAGA]

Every US medical school, and more importantly, every semi-major city will have opportunities for “social justice.” I don’t know of a medical school that doesn’t treat more underserved communities than the private hospital system(s) in town. In terms of LGBTQ, some med schools in small cities and the city itself might have less established LGBTQ organizations, but that is an opportunity for you to start something! As you know, part of the problem in rural and semi rural communities is the feeling that you have to “get out” and move to a bigger city if you are LGBTQ.

And as @LizzyM said, get a list of realistic schools first. I would even say this is entirely a post multiple-acceptance question. Intensely comparing schools before (other than am I competitive stats wise?) is a fools errand. Iirc the median number of acceptances for accepted MD students is 1, maybe 2.

 

[deleted1100659]

Social justice is such a broad term with different meanings to different people, I think identifying what it means to you may be helpful as well. Did you mean essentially welcoming to the LGBQT population? I think of social justice in different sectors such as race, sexuality, income etc, rather than an all encompassing term. I think the majority of medical schools will be involved in treating low income populations to some degree. However, some med schools may be more LGBQT friendly than others, as others have stated. I would wager most are pretty progressive though, besides a few southern ones.

 

[TelemarketingEnigma]

Social justice is such a broad term with different meanings to different people, I think identifying what it means to you may be helpful as well.

Agree with this. Jesuit schools may be great for service to underserved in many ways, but if your focus is reproductive justice or LGBTQ healthcare, you may want to look for schools without religious affiliation for example. There will be some kind of social justice or service opportunity at essentially every school, but not every school might have your specific topic or population of interest

 

[deleted927036]

Around 15% of last years class come from disadvantaged backgrounds and 24% were from medically underserved areas.

Considering the low amount of disadvantaged students who have the stats/activities to go to Chicago, that’s a fairly large amount

Those are small numbers considering their mission and those numbers in previous years have been lower. Stanford and UCLA have higher rates and they don't flex their social justice mission nearly as much as UChicago. Also it's UChicago that determines the stats/activities requirements to get in... they could easily choose to accept more SES disadvantaged students but it'll hurt their stats...

You just excluded almost every medical school in the world, although I would change rich to overwhelmingly upper half of family income.

Median Income around the South side is 35k. Median Income in the U.S is 60k. Median Income of all medical students is 140k. If I were to bet, median income of medical students at UChicago is a lot higher than 140k. I'm sure many people in the south side would consider this "rich." There's a night and day difference between the experiences of their patient population and their students.

Uhhhh this was my first interview so my mind is a bit hazy. I remember them saying: changing Boystown cause it only accommodated white gay men, having most of the class stay in Hyde Park to be around their patient population ( disadvantaged POC), student clinics, community garden, mentoring for troubled youth, a focus on health policy for systemic racism. A big portion of the initial curriculum is anti-racism and community awareness lectures. Stuff like that.

Sometimes UChicago and similar schools sounds like a whole poverty tourism experience for rich kids.

"Are you a rich kid interested in health equity and social justice? Come to UChicago and get experience with poor POC. You can assimilate and live with with our poor population, gain valuable medical skills and experiences by practicing on poor patients who have no other options at our many student run free clinics. You can even mentor some "troubled youth." Then at the end, your resume will be so stacked with "savior" experiences that you'll be able to match into your dream residency!" I wonder how many of their students actually end up working in underserved areas. Maybe they should start accepting more "troubled youth?"

 

[Dogruffle01]

Those are small numbers considering their mission and those numbers in previous years have been lower. Stanford and UCLA have higher rates and they don't flex their social justice mission nearly as much as UChicago. Also it's UChicago that determines the stats/activities requirements to get in... they could easily choose to accept more SES disadvantaged students but it'll hurt their stats...




Median Income around the South side is 35k. Median Income in the U.S is 60k. Median Income of all medical students is 140k. If I were to bet, median income of medical students at UChicago is a lot higher than 140k. I'm sure many people in the south side would consider this "rich." There's a night and day difference between the experiences of their patient population and their students.




Sometimes UChicago and similar schools sounds like a whole poverty tourism experience for rich kids.

"Are you a rich kid interested in health equity and social justice? Come to UChicago and get experience with poor POC. You can assimilate and live with with our poor population, gain valuable medical skills and experiences by practicing on poor patients who have no other options at our many student run free clinics. You can even mentor some "troubled youth." Then at the end, your resume will be so stacked with "savior" experiences that you'll be able to match into your dream residency!" I wonder how many of their students actually end up working in underserved areas. Maybe they should start accepting more "troubled youth?"

Dang dawg , what Uchicago do to you?

 

[premed0325]

I would add USC Keck and Albert Einstein to this growing list!

 

[queenbeee]

UCLA as well

 

[msmathteacher]

CMSRU!

 

[doomer_md]

Those are small numbers considering their mission and those numbers in previous years have been lower. Stanford and UCLA have higher rates and they don't flex their social justice mission nearly as much as UChicago. Also it's UChicago that determines the stats/activities requirements to get in... they could easily choose to accept more SES disadvantaged students but it'll hurt their stats...




Median Income around the South side is 35k. Median Income in the U.S is 60k. Median Income of all medical students is 140k. If I were to bet, median income of medical students at UChicago is a lot higher than 140k. I'm sure many people in the south side would consider this "rich." There's a night and day difference between the experiences of their patient population and their students.




Sometimes UChicago and similar schools sounds like a whole poverty tourism experience for rich kids.

"Are you a rich kid interested in health equity and social justice? Come to UChicago and get experience with poor POC. You can assimilate and live with with our poor population, gain valuable medical skills and experiences by practicing on poor patients who have no other options at our many student run free clinics. You can even mentor some "troubled youth." Then at the end, your resume will be so stacked with "savior" experiences that you'll be able to match into your dream residency!" I wonder how many of their students actually end up working in underserved areas. Maybe they should start accepting more "troubled youth?"

Should Pritzker just stop accepting perfectly qualified students because their family income is too high for you?

 

[YCAGA]

Those are small numbers considering their mission and those numbers in previous years have been lower. Stanford and UCLA have higher rates and they don't flex their social justice mission nearly as much as UChicago. Also it's UChicago that determines the stats/activities requirements to get in... they could easily choose to accept more SES disadvantaged students but it'll hurt their stats...




Median Income around the South side is 35k. Median Income in the U.S is 60k. Median Income of all medical students is 140k. If I were to bet, median income of medical students at UChicago is a lot higher than 140k. I'm sure many people in the south side would consider this "rich." There's a night and day difference between the experiences of their patient population and their students.




Sometimes UChicago and similar schools sounds like a whole poverty tourism experience for rich kids.

"Are you a rich kid interested in health equity and social justice? Come to UChicago and get experience with poor POC. You can assimilate and live with with our poor population, gain valuable medical skills and experiences by practicing on poor patients who have no other options at our many student run free clinics. You can even mentor some "troubled youth." Then at the end, your resume will be so stacked with "savior" experiences that you'll be able to match into your dream residency!" I wonder how many of their students actually end up working in underserved areas. Maybe they should start accepting more "troubled youth?"

You’re completely missing the point. We can argue about what it means to be rich, but the point is that UChicago is not unique in having a skewed wealth distribution of its medical students. Did you go to UChicago and not enjoy it? Or was it your dream school and they rejected you? I don’t get the specific dislike for one school when the other 120+ MD schools have this problem. Probably DO too but I don’t have stats on that.

 

[gyngyn]

I don't think OP is looking for arguments against their query.
Let's try to stay on topic.

 

[jhmmd]

Those are small numbers considering their mission and those numbers in previous years have been lower. Stanford and UCLA have higher rates and they don't flex their social justice mission nearly as much as UChicago. Also it's UChicago that determines the stats/activities requirements to get in... they could easily choose to accept more SES disadvantaged students but it'll hurt their stats...




Median Income around the South side is 35k. Median Income in the U.S is 60k. Median Income of all medical students is 140k. If I were to bet, median income of medical students at UChicago is a lot higher than 140k. I'm sure many people in the south side would consider this "rich." There's a night and day difference between the experiences of their patient population and their students.




Sometimes UChicago and similar schools sounds like a whole poverty tourism experience for rich kids.

"Are you a rich kid interested in health equity and social justice? Come to UChicago and get experience with poor POC. You can assimilate and live with with our poor population, gain valuable medical skills and experiences by practicing on poor patients who have no other options at our many student run free clinics. You can even mentor some "troubled youth." Then at the end, your resume will be so stacked with "savior" experiences that you'll be able to match into your dream residency!" I wonder how many of their students actually end up working in underserved areas. Maybe they should start accepting more "troubled youth?"

1. Your numbers are way off. I think you mean "median combined income" (two income earners household). The average income in the U.S. is ~$30k (sadly).
2. Again, numbers are off. Medical students do not typically work, so they don't have any income. They are in debt, living off of huge loans.
3. Many medical schools make a policy of doing this.
4. OP, as for your original question, I would look at schools on the west coast (like UCSF) and in big metro areas. Good luck with everything <3

 

[mdog31415]

Agree with this. Jesuit schools may be great for service to underserved in many ways, but if your focus is reproductive justice or LGBTQ healthcare, you may want to look for schools without religious affiliation for example. There will be some kind of social justice or service opportunity at essentially every school, but not every school might have your specific topic or population of interest

I like this assessment because social justice has puzzled me my entire early adult life. There are SO many definitions of it that, for the most part, I don't necessarily strive for social justice. Rather, my aim is to help other people (especially the underserved and those in difficult situations) and make society a better place. Anti-racism, diversity, universal healthcare, or anti-poverty vibes are very noble causes that I respect. But there are some interpretations of social justice that involve egalitarianism, collectivism, or even conflict theory that I do not support. I remember the firestorm surrounding the NEJM article that described monetary reparations to the black community in the name of reducing COVID's impact- a proposal I was very skeptical of. Hence, when a school says "we are a social justice school", it can be a bit of a red flag if they do not define it. So I want your take. For schools like Brown, Dartmouth, Maryland, Rush, Geisinger, and BU, what does social justice mean for them? I can't really get a straight answer; it's very broad and almost arbitrary.