Christopher Goodman, MD, Chair
Assistant Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine
Suzanne Bertollo, MD
Assistant Professor of Clinical Family and Preventive Medicine
Director of Preventive Medicine Residency Program
Donna Ray, MD
Director of Faculty Development
Patricia Witherspoon, MD
Associate Professor of Clinical Family and Preventive Medicine
Garrett Helms, LISW-CPS
Instructor of Clinical Family and Preventive Medicine
Rajeev Bais, MD
Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine
Jeff Hall, MD
Family & Preventive Medicine
Chris Turley, MD
James Grubbs
Olabisi Badmus
Sharon Weissman
Laura Kane, MLIS, AHIP
SOM Library, Assistant Director for Information Services
Student Representatives:
Purva Choudhari
Pooja Choudhari
Abbye Clark
Ryan Orland
The social determinants of health, as described by the World Health Organization, are "the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age... shaped by the distribution of money, power and resources at global, national and local levels." These conditions are things like education, income, public policy, housing, neighborhoods, food security, and healthcare access. The practice of medicine necessarily confronts these broader influences on our patient's health; however, historically, medical education has neglected these influences in order to focus predominantly on the human body and its disease states.
With an ever-growing evidence base regarding the nature and impact of social determinants of health, medical education is shifting to incorporate social determinants into standard training for future physicians. The University of South Carolina School of Medicine is committed to this goal as well, and our steering committee oversees the vertical curriculum called Health and Society that organizes and integrates the goals and learning pathways regarding the social determinants of health.
Our mission is to graduate physicians committed to the lifelong learning and practice of incorporating an understanding of social determinants of health to positively impact their patients and communities.
As a result of completing this I3 curriculum, the graduating medical student will be able to:
1. Describe the social determinants of health and their relationship to health equity.
2. Use an awareness of the social determinants of health and available community resources to optimize the care of patients.
3. Demonstrate cultural humility and empathy in their developing practice of medicine.
4. Employ strategies to assess and improve health literacy in order to improve communication with patients.
5. Use an understanding of explicit bias, implicit bias, and structural violence to inform personal professional growth as a future physician leader.
6. Advocate for patients and public health in a manner that reflects a developing sense of professionalism as well as a broader understanding of the health care system.