Neighborhood Wellness Programs

USC Good Neighbors

The university’s premier community outreach initiative, providing more than $26 million in neighborhood grants to date. Created in 1993, Good Neighbors was designed to provide financial support to enable collaboration between USC faculty and staff and local nonprofit organizations that have a visible, positive impact on the neighborhoods surrounding the University Park and Health Sciences campuses.

Learn more abut USC Good Neighbors

USC Street Medicine

Street Medicine serves the homeless community by providing direct care, on the streets and under bridges, to unsheltered and hard-to-reach populations. Homelessness has grown to epidemic proportions in California, affecting more than 52,000 people in Los Angeles County alone. The vast majority of homeless people are not living in shelters and have little-to-no medical care available to them. Through Street Medicine, all care is provided free of charge and delivered onsite, including dispensing medications and drawing blood for testing.

USC has committed to prioritizing unique and innovation solutions to homelessness.

Learn more about USC Street Medicine

Trojan Trainer Program

The Trojan Trainer Program, part of Street Medicine at the Keck School, teaches medical and physician assistant students about caring for patients experiencing homelessness. By learning directly from patients in this vulnerable population, students learn how to take a history of someone experiencing homelessness; about the impact of lived environments on health; and about the nuances of reality-based medicine. Through this program, medical and PA students are able to hone their skills and better serve our communities.

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Florida-California Health Equity Center – Cancer Citizen Scientist Program

The Cancer Citizen Scientist Program’s mission is to develop the manpower for research advocates who can work closely with cancer scientists to address cancer health disparities.

Learn more about the Cancer Citizen Scientist Program

Interprofessional Geriatrics Curriculum

Interprofessional Geriatrics Curriculum (IPGC) provides a geriatric experience for diverse teams of USC students studying medicine, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physical therapy, physician assistant, psychology and social work. Groups are paired with older adult residents from one of our community partner housing sites. The program’s overarching goal is for students to work together across disciplines to learn how collaborative practice supports healthy aging.

Learn more about the Interprofessional Geriatrics Curriculum

Mindfulness Education

Mindfulness Education is the focus of research by David Black, PhD, associate director of the USC Center for Mindfulness Science. His program centers on human subjects clinical trials to test the effect of mindfulness-based interventions on alleviating health-related symptoms. Dr. Black’s particular areas of emphasis have been cancer survivorship, addiction treatment and underlying biological mechanisms of action.

Learn more about Mindfulness Education

Stop the Bleed

Stop the Bleed is a program developed by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma that teaches regular people to be ready to help in a crisis. Participants learn to pack wounds and apply tourniquets, stopping blood loss until first responders arrive. Our trauma and critical care attending surgeons and residents have trained everyone from Keck School staffers to members of the community. They have had particular success with at-risk youth, who learn to see themselves as leaders in a crisis.

Read more about Stop the Bleed

Tattoo Removal

Tattoo Removal is a free service that gives participants vital, practical help in starting new chapters in their lives. Some are looking to remove socially inappropriate tattoos so they can apply for jobs or join the military; for others, tattoo removal is a crucial step in ending gang involvement or leaving the world of sex trafficking behind. Our surgeons at Los Angeles General Medical Center use modern laser techniques to help give people a clean slate.

USC Student-Run Clinic

The USC Student-Run Clinic brings together students from the Keck School of Medicine, the USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, the USC School of Pharmacy and the USC Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy to deliver quality patient care through a team-based approach.

The clinic currently operates at three sites in Los Angeles: Volunteer of America Men’s Shelter, the Wesley Health Center in downtown LA and the Los Angeles General Medical Center Wellness Center. Focused on the underserved, the uninsured and those experiencing homelessness, the clinic takes comprehensive patient history and offers physical exams, preventative screenings, medication reconciliation and wellness education.