What is Service Learning?

About Us

The UW School of Medicine's Service Learning program strives to enrich medical education by providing our students with opportunities to hone their skills while addressing the health needs of our underserved communities and to create health professions pathways for URiM pre-med and STEM students. We seek to foster the joy of service in our students who are preparing for lives of civic and social responsibility in an increasingly diverse and complex global society.

Service learning projects are rooted in community identified needs and are guided by cultural values in the communities they serve. These efforts are achieved through strong student leadership, collaborative community partnerships, dedicated supervising clinicians, and interprofessional teamwork with allied graduate health sciences schools.

Mission Statement

In keeping with the mission statement for the UWSOM, which states that we place special emphasis on educating and training physicians, scientists, and allied health professionals dedicated to the mission of: “Meeting the health care needs of our region, especially by recognizing the importance of primary care and providing service to underserved populations.”

We, the faculty and staff, who support the Service Learning programs of the UWSOM are dedicated to connecting students, faculty, staff, administrators, and underserved community partners in developing service activities that are mutually beneficial to all. In so doing, we seek to foster the joy of service while students prepare for lifelong civic and social responsibilities as healthcare providers in an increasingly diverse and complex global society.

Chief among program goals are the following:

To enhance students' learning by enabling them to practice skills and test classroom knowledge through related service experiences in local communities;

To facilitate reflective activities in all service learning projects to optimize learning and improve the projects;
To assist faculty in their role as facilitators of service learning and in their engagement with the community;
To prepare students to engage in meaningful service which benefits and builds on the strengths of underserved communities;
To assist students in making connections between their community experiences and the larger world, focusing especially on social justice issues;

To meet the above goals, the program has the following objectives:

To provide meaningful service learning opportunities to all medical students who wish to participate at all foundation sites.
To provide leadership training and development opportunities for trainees.
To recruit faculty who are willing to model a life of service and oversee meaningful service learning projects;
To develop and implement policies which ensure the safety of all, including patients, students and faculty;