Diversity Hub

The Student Veterans at UCSF is comprised of Veterans, Active Duty, Reservists, and other Military affiliates from all of the professional and graduate programs at UCSF. We aim to; (1) Provide a support network for these students; (2) Advocate for service members; (3) Increase Veteran visibility on campus; and (3) Raise awareness of Veteran-specific health issues.

The goal of TSSA is to facilitate the social connection and intellectual exchange among the Taiwanese community in UCSF. It also aims to facilitate the interaction with other Taiwanese communities around Bay Area and the country. The major activities include celebration for traditional holidays, the annual farewell/welcome party in the summer, and occasional events such as Taiwanese film discussion. We invite students, postdocs, staffs, and faculty members from Taiwan or having interest in Taiwanese culture to join us to appreciate the Taiwanese culture. /

Our purpose is to provide a standing mechanism to deal with the issues that arise out of conflict and to promote the general welfare of Filipinos at UCSF by organizing a forum and other special events and fostering cross cultural exchange activities with staffs and students. We serve as the voice of the Filipino Community in social events, UCSF multi cultural functions, all diversity functions including Community of Minority Organization (COMO).

VSA at UCSF engages our inter-professional community with a rich and multi-faceted view of Vietnamese Culture through cultural events, community involvement, and medical Vietnamese elective. We have always been one of the most active cultural organizations on campus and continue to host annual events to promote cultural awareness including the Fall Banquet to welcome new students, Winter Holiday Potluck, Vietnamese New Years (Tet) Festival, Black April Commemoration for the Fall of Saigon, and our Spring Vietnamese Culture Show. All events feature talented student volunteers as singers, actors, and dancers. We also invite students to participate in our medical Vietnamese elective each quarter, which provide interactive learning of a very useful and elegant language. In the past, VSA has also collaborated with other cultural RCO at UCSF to promote diversity and tolerance.

The Hispanic Dental Association (HDA) is a national, non-profit organization comprised of oral health professionals and students dedicated to promoting and improving the oral health of the Hispanic community. In addition, they provide advocacy for Hispanic oral health professionals across the US. As one of the leading voices for Hispanic oral health in California, the UCSF student chapter of HDA promotes service, health education, advocacy and leadership to strengthen our Hispanic student community at UCSF. To reach this goal, we organize health fairs and mentorship events as well as socials, fundraisers, and community service events. In addition, we partner with the Chicanos/Latinos for Health Education (CHE), an organization where the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Dentistry at UCSF come together to reach our main objective to one day eliminate health disparities in the Bay area.

Twenty high school students come to UCSF each summer to conduct biomedical research under the guidance of a scientist mentor. Program received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring in 2011. This program is currently funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and the Baskin Family Foundation.

Career Development provide resources to enable greater diversity at UCSF, to support mentorship, and to improve the recruitment and retention of under-represented clinical and translational researchers. The goal of this program aims; (1) To advance the careers of clinical and translational researchers by providing career advice, research mentoring, and support; (2) To advance under-represented groups in clinical and translational science at UCSF, in collaboration with the UCSF Chancellor's Diversity Initiative and School-based Diversity Taskforces, the CTSI CD Program has vigorous programs to recruit and retain underrepresented faculty and trainees; and (3) To promote culture change so that clinical and translational researchers are appropriately rewarded.

PROF-PATH (Promoting Research Opportunities Fully-Prospective Academics Transforming Health) is a research and academic career development program for health professions students funded by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities. We train UCSF students from underrepresented in medicine (UIM) backgrounds regardless of research area focus, and students interested in health disparities research regardless of background. PROF-PATH provides funding, classes, mentorship, community, and opportunities for training for students from all four UCSF professional schools. Our goal is to help students make the most of the rich research and academic career development opportunities available at UCSF.

The Filipino Dental Student Coalition is an organization with a mission to unify the UCSF dental community in providing care and oral health education to the Filipino population. Furthermore, we strive to develop interest in health professions in Filipino-American youth, create and maintain a network of information and resources between dental care professionals, and foster appreciation and awareness of Filipino culture.

This year-long, structured program is designed for first time applicants who believe they need additional preparation in order to be competitive applicants and for previously unsuccessful applicants to dental school. The program are especially interested in individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, underserved communities and/or from groups traditionally underrepresented in the profession. The comprehensive program is designed to help participants become more competitive dental school applicants in a future admission cycle, and consists of the following key elements; (1) Mentoring and academic advising; (2) A full year of upper division science course work through the University of California, Berkeley Extension; (3) Assistance with the dental school application process; (4) Academic and learning skills development; (5) Intensive DAT review course; (6) Faculty mentoring; and (7) Interprofessional collaboration with the Medical and Pharmacy post-baccalaureate programs.