Clinical

• Learn how environmental, institutional, political, and economic factors create barriers to better health.
• Understand the significance of grounding service in ongoing assessments of community-identified needs.
• Recognize that impact may not always be obvious or immediate. It takes time and patience to develop trust with communities that have experienced historical trauma. Consider this work an opportunity to increase clinical and cultural humility.
• Remember that the main goal of clinical service learning is to connect patients with sustainable, high-quality care.
• Appreciate the richness and strengths of partner communities.

Mentorship/Outreach

• Expand your understanding of the many systemic barriers that underrepresented students must overcome to achieve their health professional goals.
• Develop teaching and communication skills by sharing your expertise in interviewing, networking, and navigating application processes.
• Provide inspiration and role-modeling to young people who might not have other connections to the health professional world.
• Gain experience in career-long mentorship skills considerate of ethics of working with minors, boundary setting and reciprocity.

Advocacy

• Learn to address social determinants of health on a large scale through political, social, or institutional interventions.
• Appreciate the impact that physicians in training can have on systems changes.
• Understand that the validity of perspectives is solidified by personal experiences and background.
• Learn to identify people who are falling through the cracks and to think upstream to improve outcomes.

Remember that early exposure to service work will help shape your professional identity and increase the likelihood that you will continue to do community service work as a licensed provider!