The UC Riverside School of Medicine’s Program in Medical Education (PRIME) has received an Association of American Medical Colleges NEXT Grant of $40,000 over two years to support a project that will work to help African American patients grow their self-advocacy skills to achieve better symptom management, overall health, increased confidence, and satisfaction with healthcare services. UCR SOM is one of five institutions to receive the competitive grant.
The school is now recruiting community members to participate in the program. UCR is partnering with Advocate for Nurturing Transition (ANT) Consulting for the project. A registration form is available here.
“This project will use the Communities of Practice (CP) model to cultivate self-advocacy skills within participants drawn from Inland Southern California’s Black community,” said Adwoa Osei, MD, the director of the UCR PRIME Program and a pediatrician with UCR Health who will lead the project. “CPs have the potential to play a critical role in supporting the development of self-advocacy skills by fostering shared learning, support networks, mentoring relationships, skill-building opportunities, and a culturally sensitive approach. CPs, or “Circles” as they are called in this project, create spaces where individuals can share experiences, knowledge, and resources, and enable the development of a support network that encourages active participation and mentoring relationships.
The UCR SOM PRIME ABC Program aims to produce physicians who are specifically trained to address the healthcare needs of the African, Black, and Caribbean (ABC) communities of Inland Southern California. More information about the program is available here.
The AAMC NEXT Grants are intended to create or enhance opportunities to engage learners in health and healthcare educational initiatives to confront racism and advance health equity in partnership with local communities, increase learners’ knowledge about and ability to apply anti-racism, social justice, and health equity principles within the context of a community-level issue, and promote collaborative, community-engaged, and intersectional approaches to improving health outcomes among communities and patients who have been historically marginalized. More information about the AAMC NEXT Grant is available here.
