• Education

UCSF Shows Its Commitment to the City

Eighth-grade students learn about the human heart at UCSF.

Eighth-grade students learn about the human heart at UCSF as part of the Science & Health Education Partnership program, one of the community service projects highlighted in the new "UCSF: Committed to the City" web package that debuts today.

Since its founding nearly 150 years ago, UCSF has been committed to serving the community, and its reach extends far beyond the walls of the University.

As a public health sciences university, top U.S. health care provider and leader in biomedical research, UCSF draws on its vast network to develop partnerships with community-based organizations, schools and clinics to further it's advancing health worldwide mission.

Launching October 20, the "UCSF: Committed to the City” web project highlights UCSF’s work across San Francisco. The project features an interactive map, videos, slideshows and audio clips to provide a first-hand look at the many lives that UCSF touches every day. The website debuts with 20 stories ranging from free public health screenings to how UCSF uses its expertise to improve science education and develop a skilled workforce.

The interactive map emphasizes UCSF’s work throughout San Francisco and also serves as ago-to resource for the UCSF community and city neighbors to learn more about the community and University. New stories will continue to be added to the website.

The stories told in the “UCSF: Committed to the City” project underscore UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann’s pledge to advance health through public service. “UCSF is a public university. We have a public mission, which all of us collectively love,” said Desmond-Hellmann, MD, MPH, in her State of the University remarks on Oct. 4. 

Among the highlights of the UCSF web project are:

  • A video about Chanta Helton, a staff member in the UCSF Department of Neurology and 2010 graduate of UCSF’s Community Outreach Internship Program, which helps the unemployed get back to work with opportunities for job training and employment experience in administrative support positions at UCSF. 
  • A video from San Francisco’s Sunday Streets in the Bayview neighborhood, where UCSF School of Dentistry residents, students and faculty checked children for cavities, provided oral hygiene instruction and counseled parents about treatment.
  • An audio slideshow featuring several students from San Francisco Unified School District learning about how the human heart works with real human specimens. The opportunity is made possible through the Daly Ralston Resource Center at UCSF’s Science & Health Education Partnership which offers teachers the chance to check out science materials — ranging from curriculum kits to human specimens — for their science classes.

Produced by the Office of the Vice Chancellor, Strategic Communications and University Relations, the “Committed to the Community” web package was created by Media Specialist Kevin Eisenmann and interns Nolan Feeney and Sarah Craig.

Photo by Sarah Craig

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