Office of Community Engagement

Who We Are

Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) is a renowned leader in community engagement, making positive change through research, community service, and educational outreach. The Office of Community Engagement (OCE) at Morehouse School of Medicine aims to promote and strengthen effective partnerships between faculty, staff, and students and those who identify as: community residents and leaders, government agencies, faith-based organizations, or health and social service agencies.

Objectives:

Promotes and strengthens effective partnerships among community, academic institutions, industry and agencies

Stimulates community-focused partnerships among Morehouse School of Medicine centers institutes, departments and programs

Assesses community assets, concerns, and priorities towards development of responsive strategies

Facilitates community engagement technical assistance, and capacity building skills of students, academic institutions and other constituents

Offers access to and membership in a web and mobile application-based community engaged initiatives inventory representing MSMs outreach across Georgia and beyond.

What is Community Engagement?

Morehouse School of Medicine holds to an applied, cross –cutting, definition of community engagement that includes the systematic allocation of educational, clinical, research and clinical resources (e.g., fiscal, knowledge, time, infrastructure) for partnerships and outreach approaches .

Our approaches are 1) community-led, co-created or informed, 2) dynamic, 3) culturally and contextually tailored, 4) established and sustained through mutually and exponentially beneficial community-academic partnerships, and 5) established, informed, improved or adapted for evidence-based interventions. Working collectively, these strategies contribute to our vision of leading the creation and advancement of health equity locally, nationally and globally.

Note: Partnerships may include, but are not be limited to written affiliation agreements, memoranda of understanding, letters of support, or grants.

What We Offer

The Office of Community Engagement (OCE) offers training to build the capacity of students and faculty/staff at MSM and other academic institutions, as well as leaders of community-based organizations, on how to engage with the community. OCE also host various workshops and forums for health professionals, community-based organizations/members, and those in academia and community residents who wish to share ideas, strategies, and innovations in research, policy, and practice to help improve the health and health status of Georgians. In partnership with the Georgia Clinical and Translational Science Alliance, we're hosting the upcoming Community Engagement 4th Biennial Forum titled, "One Georgia: Building Bridges to Improve Quality Access for Optimal Health." Register to attend.

Our Impact

With extensive experience identifying neighborhood assets, concerns, and priorities towards the development of strategies that are responsive to communities, OCE facilitates communication, coordination and collaboration for education, clinical, research and service initiatives.