Fall 2024 marks the 19th year of the Urban Medicine Program at the UIC College of Medicine.

The Urban Medicine Program – UMed – is a scholarly concentration program within the UIC College of Medicine. The program provides a four-year curriculum and longitudinal community rotations for 18 medical students every year.

“You are joining a community,” said annual Welcome Letter, “of over 350 physicians, community activists, scholars, researchers, and social justice leaders who have dedicated their lives to addressing health inequities and injustices.”

The 18 members of the Class of 2028 come from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Many are from the Chicago area, and earned their degrees here – at UIC, Loyola, Northwestern and other area schools. But the program is also welcoming graduates of University of Miami, Yale, University of Virginia, and Johns Hopkins to the east, and University of California on the West Coast.

Their educational and personal histories are varied; a number of them already have impressive accomplishments already to their credit. But all are starting a journey together. As one recent graduate wrote, “my UMed classmates were all so impressive, well spoken, and accomplished, I felt as if I was not contributing much to the group” – but “I quickly realized that this was not the case, because UMed wasn’t about individual accomplishments, but about community.” Other recent graduates wrote that that they had learned to be an “active community participant” and a good listener who knows how to “sit back and take in the information of these communities and take it to heart.”

The program is conducting a long-term outcomes study of UMed graduates and will soon begin investigating the impact of UMed programming on Longitudinal Community Rotation (LCR) partner sites and the community members served by UMed students. This year, Howard Brown Health Center in Hyde Park is joining the team as a new LCR partner.

Learn more about UMed.

A recent group photo of the UMed community.