Community Impact

School of Medicine students work with leading clinicians and biomedical scientists who take you out of the classroom right to the communities where it will make a difference. Our students continuously recognize community and world needs and devise methods to address those needs, from our Street Medicine Detroit group, which sees medical students provide care for the homeless on the streets of Detroit, to creating the annual World AIDS Day Detroit program to spotlight the need for education and testing for a vulnerable population.

Impact in Detroit and beyond

Curriculum

Service to Detroit's residents is woven into every facet of Wayne State University's medical education. Its award-winning community engagement and service learning-focused curriculum is unparalleled in the United States in size, opportunity and scope. More than 500 students annually serve at more than 70 clinical, mentoring and outreach volunteering options, and participate in a growing number of public health policy and advocacy opportunities. Year 1 and 2 students volunteer more than 24,000 hours of community service annually.

Wayne State physicians-in-training are committed to educating community members about health safety and response solutions through initiatives such as the First Aid First video series, a collaboration between students and the Detroit Medical Center (DMC) emergency medicine physicians to help broader populations learn about in-home solutions that could save lives.
 

Research

Wayne State's location provides unparalleled access to diverse populations and exposure to Detroit's unique health challenges, along with unmatched collaborative opportunities with leading health care systems, organizations and experts. Students and faculty work on interdisciplinary teams in myriad settings to investigate and develop techniques, technologies and processes that better serve residents. In 2016, School of Medicine clinical research awards totaled more than $176 million.
 

Partnerships

Community partnerships guide, support and strengthen Wayne State University and Detroit. The Center for Translational Science and Clinical Research Innovation a hub of campus-wide clinical research works with community advisory boards to determine the direction of clinical research, ensuring that studies and discoveries are applicable and available to community members.
 

Student impact and interest organizations

The School of Medicine offers a diverse selection of student organizations. Students may want to join in order to take advantage of the encouragement, assistance, and comradery that comes from fellow peers that have similar interests. A wide range of opportunities and interests are represented and students are urged to join an organization that relates to their interests in the field of medicine. The organizations also serve to increase healthcare awareness in the community through jointly beneficial projects.
 

Pipeline and continuing education programs

Wayne State University and its School of Medicine continue to build a diverse health care workforce with a passion for community engagement through K-12, medical education and continuing medical education pipeline programs. Programs and initiatives such as Reach Out to Youth, Wayne Med-DirectC2 Pipeline, BCAPThe Biomedical Career Advancement Program, and the Michigan Area Health Education Center open doors for diverse populations, directly impact communities and improve access to health care.

 

Care for the most vulnerable

Wayne State faculty physicians have a rich history and deep commitment to providing access to leading edge care for the most vulnerable patients in the Detroit community, many of whom are underinsured and uninsured.