Social Issues in Medicine (SIM)

Since 2006, Social Issues in Medicine (SIM) has been a required course in the School of Medicine for all first-year medical students, informing them on the social determinants of health. An important pillar of the course is to foster a humanistic approach to medicine and an ethic of service. To accomplish this, presentations by expert physicians and community leaders, self-reflection activities and group discussions, and experiential hands-on learning are provided. Students are placed in small groups at community health and human services agencies and schools working with under-resourced populations on projects to improve health outcomes. During this course, students will recognize and analyze the interrelationships between socio-cultural environments and the occurrence, prevention and treatment of disease.  Students will also identify and nurture values that characterize a professional and humanistic practice of medicine and an ethic of service.

Every interaction I have with patients in the Free Clinic makes me overjoyed to be in this field. It’s rewarding in a sense distinctly different from finishing an exam or writing a paper. It’s the reason I went down this path to begin with. It’s easy to get wrapped up in all the non-clinical things we have to do, and so this experience has been such a refreshing reminder of why I’m working hard towards becoming a good physician. – Austin Murray, Charlottesville Free Clinic

*2025-26 partner agencies (as of 3/25/26)