The University of Chicago Medicine (UCM) is situated in the culturally rich South Side of Chicago – an area of 34 neighborhoods with around one million people, primarily African American with a large Hispanic and immigrant population, many impoverished, with significant health disparities. A community health needs assessment sponsored by UCM in 2012 prioritized access to care for all, diabetes and cancer care for adults, and obesity and asthma care for pediatrics, as well as sexually transmitted infections and violence.
The University of Chicago faculty and trainees partner with community leaders and organizations to promote health through research, advocacy, and community development.
The Community Health Track connects students participating in the service learning opportunities of the Pritzker School of Medicine with the community outreach of the Urban Health Initiative (UHI) and community engaged research of the Institute for Translational Medicine. Medical education is situated within and with the community, allowing students to develop necessary skills in establishing community partnerships for research and advocacy, public speaking, fundraising, consensus building, community organizing, organizational management, team building and inter-professional collaboration. The Community Health Track prepares students to promote population health.
Meet the Track Leaders
Dr. Burnet is Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics and Section Chief of General Internal Medicine at University of Chicago Medicine, and also holds extensive ties to the communities on the South Side of Chicago. Her research focus is on using community-based methods and programs to understand and halt the rise of obesity and type 2 diabetes in African American youth.
Dr. Baig is Associate Professor at the University of Chicago in the Department of Medicine. Dr. Baig has worked on community-based participatory research projects to improve healthcare delivery to low-income, uninsured minority communities in partnership with faith-based organizations in Los Angeles and Chicago. Her main research interest is in the use of faith-based interventions to mitigate Latino diabetes disparities. She is currently working with churches and community groups in South Lawndale, Chicago, to test a church-based diabetes self-management program on diabetes control and management among Latinos. She has also led a survey of health centers in the Midwest assessing the services provided to Latino patients and provider knowledge of Latino culture.
