Celebrating Black History Month 2025

The theme for Black History Month 2025 is “African Americans and Labor.” According to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), “…The notion of work constitutes compensated labor in factories, the military, government agencies, office buildings, public service, and private homes. But it also includes the community building of social justice activists, voluntary workers serving others, and institution building in churches, community groups, and social clubs and organizations.” As an institution of higher education, the UC Irvine School of Medicine recognizes our crucial role in developing a world-class workforce in medicine and the health sciences. This month, we recognize the interdisciplinary and innovative labor that upholds our school’s mission to Discover, Teach, Heal, especially as it relates to health equity within African, Black and Caribbean communities.

In the summer of 2024, the School of Medicine launched the UCI-HBCU Summer Research and Clinical Experience Program, an 8-week intensive curriculum for visiting undergraduate students from North Carolina A&T State University and Winston-Salem State University, two Historically Black Colleges/Universities (HBCUs). The program was a collaboration between 19 clinical departments in the School of Medicine, with each respective department sponsoring a student and offering clinical shadowing, laboratory research experience, and mentorship throughout various School of Medicine and UCI Health settings. The program concluded with a poster presentation from the students. Upon completing the program, students offered crucial feedback, highlighting their appreciation of the interdisciplinary nature of the UCI-HBCU program and respective medical specialties. Their thoughts included:

“I loved seeing patients, learning about their backgrounds, and being a part of their support system. The care that each attending put into their patients' treatment was heartfelt and inspired me to pursue a career in family medicine… For most patients, this clinic was an important part of their lives, and they were all very grateful to those who helped them.”

“Each day, I was in a new specialty, which allowed me to see a variety of procedures, such as a filter removal and a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Shadowing different surgeries daily has truly broadened my perspective on how daunting but rewarding each specialty is. Additionally, doing rounds in the clinic highlighted how critical a healthy physician-patient relationship is during recovery. Post-op is the most vulnerable state to see a patient in, so it is imperative to be compassionate and attentive.”

After a successful first year, the program will return in 2025. The UCI-HBCU Summer Research and Clinical Program is the latest in a long chronology of partnerships between UC campuses and HBCUs. Furthermore, with the recent California state-level designation of Black Serving Institutions (BSIs), the future holds a multitude of opportunities to promote educational equity in all academic disciplines.

As we commemorate Black history and reflect upon this year’s theme of “African Americans and Labor,” we must lastly recognize that Black history has been preserved and upheld through labor that we all must perennially undertake to discover and amplify marginalized voices. Toward that end, we encourage you to view and share the university’s Black History Month resource guides released by the Office of Inclusive Excellence and UC Irvine Libraries. These resources include events, organizations and multimedia learning materials that are both housed at UC Irvine and externally in our local community.