Description of the Initiative

The Medical School Curriculum Initiative (curriculum) enhances medical school instruction by helping medical students and health professionals appreciate their role in reducing health disparities in American communities. The curriculum is based on Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin.

The curriculum teaches future practitioners about the legal obligation recipients of federal financial assistance have to provide service to persons without regard to their race, color, or national origin, and how doing so reduces health disparities that disproportionately affect various communities. The curriculum also ensures that medical students and other health care professionals understand that some aspects of “culturally competent” care, including access for limited English proficient persons, are crucial in providing equitable, accessible, and optimal quality health care services.

The curriculum initiative began in 2004, when the National Institute of Health’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute awarded a five-year grant to a consortium of 18 medical schools across the country to develop cultural competency curricula for medical schools. The medical school grantees then formed the National Consortium for Multicultural Education for Health Professionals (NCMEHP). Subsequently, OCR provided the framework for developing the Medical School Curriculum and partnered with the NCMEHP and the HHS Office of General Counsel to develop it.

The curriculum was piloted at Wake Forest University School of Medicine’s Maya Angelou Center on Health Equity in 2008. The resulting curriculum was then published in the Association of American Medical Colleges’ (AAMC) MedEdPORTAL – the leading web-based tool that facilitates the exchange of high-quality, peer-reviewed educational materials to medical schools nationwide.  

Currently, three medical schools have incorporated the curriculum into their programs: Emory University School of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, and the University of Kansas Medical School. To date, nearly 1,200 3rd and 4th year medical students have taken the curriculum. Because of widespread interest in the curriculum, in 2014 OCR renewed its partnership with AAMC to reach new audiences through webinars and university-based presentations to undergraduate students. This renewed partnership has resulted in: jointly conducted webinars marketing the curriculum to the AAMC’s network of schools of medicine, medical students, faculty, and administration officials; and presentations by OCR to participants in AAMC’s Summer Medical and Dental Education Program (SMDEP).  A statement from the AAMC about its partnership with OCR can be found here .