This course seeks to develop research based health advocacy skills in residents training in the Cambridge Health Alliance Internal Medicine Residency Program. Our curriculum is founded in the belief that in order to properly care for our patients, physicians have a responsibility to understand the social, economic, and political context of health. The curriculum is comprised of didactics, workshops, journal clubs, social medicine rounds, field trips, and a yearlong group research based health advocacy project.
The curriculum is housed within the ambulatory curriculum of the residency program. Each year, one-third of the residents spend two of their 2 week ambulatory blocks doing health advocacy training. There are also advocacy sessions dispersed throughout the year during Thursday morning ambulatory didactics. Residents get more than 100 hours of advocacy training.
