Public Health & Vulnerable Populations

The San Francisco Bay Area is rapidly becoming one of the most inequitable places to live in the nation. Taking a casual BART ride can reveal the environmental disparities that exist between places like the affluent suburb of Pleasanton and an industrialized community like West Oakland. The lack of income and environmental equality is obvious, but the disparities run much deeper. A short ride between BART stations can mean an 11-year difference in life expectancy. Folks getting off the train and living in neighborhoods near BART’s Walnut Creek station live on average 84 years, while folks that exit at and live near the Oakland City Center station live on average only 73 years. In other words, living just 16 miles apart can mean the difference between living more than a decade longer. Why does such a health disparity exist? This course will dissect the factors that influence this social gradient of health.

There will be three whole-class face-to-face sessions and at least one off-campus face-to-face meeting with a teammate. During our first face-to-face trip on Saturday, September 9th we will be doing a neighborhood health assessment in the Bayview-Hunters Point Neighborhood of San Francisco. On Saturday, October 17th we will volunteer in the native plant nursery at the Literacy for Environmental Justice in the Candlestick Point State Park Recreational Area from 9:45am – 1:30pm. Our final whole-class face-to-face trip will be to the Social Emergency Medicine Department at Highland Hospital in Oakland. The exact day of this trip has yet to be determined, but it will likely be from 3:45pm – 6:30pm on a weekday between the dates of Tuesday, December 2nd through Wednesday, December 9th. Additionally, students will be expected to collaborate with a team on the Just Video Project outside of school hours at a time and location that is convenient for the team between Tuesday, October 27th through Monday, November 16th. Students will also be expected to attend one virtual meeting roughly every other week on either Tuesday or Wednesday for one hour.