Summer Institute
This week-long event is the hallmark of the OU Tulsa School of Community Medicine's innovative education program. The immersive experience engages participants in a curriculum of reflective, experiential service learning. Participants serve in an interdisciplinary group of both students and faculty representing colleges from across the Tulsa campus. Participants interact with community members including patients, healthcare providers and community agencies to gain an understanding of the intricacies of the healthcare community within the Tulsa area. As part of the Summer Institute, participants also experience a poverty simulation designed to create an understanding of the challenges facing many members of our community.
2024 Summer Institute
This is our 17th year hosting the Summer Institute and we are excited to continue with this life-changing event for not only our students and faculty, but also the community.
To learn more about the upcoming 2024 Summer Institute, please visit our page for further details.
Past Student Experiences
As part of the inaugural group of first-year medical students at the School of Community Medicine, I was eager to dive into a medical education that was unique and uncommonly focused on training physicians who are effective advocates for the resource-poor: Summer Institute is an informative, stimulating orientation to community medicine and specifically the inequities embedded in Tulsa. By hearing and networking with community leaders and stakeholders, as well as graduate students across disciplines, we were offered a comprehensive entry point for exploring not only health inequities, but potential tools and partners with whom we could craft solutions. To medical students, SI importantly demonstrates that, despite the years of academic immersion necessary to understand the science of medicine, the implementation of care requires understanding of context: how impotent our impending medical education, if patients ultimately lack agency or access to the care you prescribe.
- Olivia Shadid, MD Class of 2019
The Summer Institute really opened my eyes to challenges that our community faces in regards to healthcare and everyday life. Learning first hand what challenges Tulsa community members face has completely changed the way I plan to approach healthcare with my future patients.
- Catherine Falgout, PA Class of 2017
