Angela Jackson Awarded Two-Year Grant for Medical Student Study Linking Advocacy and Professionalism Through Clinical Experiences

Boston University School of Medicine Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs Angela H. Jackson, MD, has been awarded a two-year grant by the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation and the Institute for Medicine as a Profession. This two-year award, “Inoculating Against the Hidden Curriculum: Professionalism through Advocacy” is one of only four grants awarded nationally.

This project will develop, implement and evaluate a longitudinal experience that links advocacy and professionalism through clinical experiences throughout all four years of the medical school curriculum. Students will have the opportunity to explore their future responsibility to society, and learn about the diverse roles as advocates that physicians play. “Most importantly, they will learn about the importance of connecting with patients as individuals within the context of their community,” explained Jackson. This curriculum is geared to help students identify events that constitute the “hidden curriculum” during clinical experiences and develop mechanisms to appropriately respond.

Dr. Jackson, who also serves as associate professor of Medicine in the department of Medicine, has served for many years as the director of the Internal Medicine Primary Care Training Program and as the principal investigator for many successfully funded Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Title VII training grants.