The Urban Medicine Program (UMed) at the UIC College of Medicine has formed a collaboration with Howard Brown Health, which maintains a network of primary care clinics that predominately serve Chicago’s LGBTQ+ community.

UMed students will be able to select Howard Brown Health for their longitudinal community rotation (LCR) and work with Howard Brown Health during all four years of medical school.

According to Joanna Michel, director of the Chicago UMed Program, “This collaboration will give UMed students direct experience working with Chicago’s LGBTQ+ population, gaining insight into their health needs and the barriers they experience.”

While the UMed students will spend time at the 55^th Street Howard Brown Health location, they will be considered members of the clinic’s outreach group and will plan and attend community events.

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As Dr. Bonnie Pete Thomas, the medical director at the 55^th Street clinic, explained, “Often, Howard Brown attends community events, sets up a table and talks to people about a wide variety of issues, including reproductive health – especially STI screening – and health inequities facing the LGBTQI+ community.”

In addition to structured events, the Howard Brown Outreach Team meets with people and passes out information at Washington Park and Jackson Park, two public parks in the surrounding community.

Each UMed student is expected to spend at least 200 hours in their LCR and to develop a capstone project related to what they learned. The Howard Brown Health collaboration will open up opportunities to complete a community assessment of the reproductive health needs of the LGBTQ+ communities on the southside of Chicago.

Learn more about the UMed program

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