Service-Learning

When we are interconnected with each other, with the world around us, and within ourselves we learn where changes are needed. Here at Keck School of Medicine of USC, the Service-Learning program works to create change through connection and to teach our students how to do the same.

Juniper Estes Valle; Service-Learning Advisor

Health Justice and Systems of Care Course

Health Justice and Systems of Care, or HJSC, is a required course that introduces the perspectives and tools of health systems science, structural competency, the social sciences, and service-learning to envision and work toward interventions and policies that will lead to health justice.This work includes learning to advocate not only for one’s patients, but also for communities, populations, and for the transformation of the health system itself.

Service-Learning at KSOM

Service-learning is an experience at KSOM that combines classroom preparation and reflection with experiential learning through community service. In students’ first year, they engage in 12 hours of service-learning opportunities in response to community-identified concerns and learn about the context in which service is provided. They make connections between their service, their academic coursework, and the structural, psychological and social components that influence patient’s lives.