All UMass Chan Medical School third-year medical students are required to complete an on-line module on food insecurity during their 3rd year Family Medicine Clerkship. This module was designed by Melanie Gnazzo, MD (a family physician with a primary care practice at the Family Health Center of Worcester, an urban FQHC) and two first year medical students in 2020.
The module requires updates to reflect increased research about food insecurity and changes in the national dialogue about food insecurity. One or two students are invited to update the module over the summer of 2025. This would include:
- literature and current event searches about food insecurity
- development of 'public policy' and 'food justice' sections to include in the existing module
- re-design an assessment and feedback survey to be incorporated into the module
- utilizing the Articulate/Rise 360 platform to update and publish the module
After the module is updated, its use could be expanded beyond third year medical students.
First year medical students could apply for a summer program stipend for this community health/curriculum development project. As a faculty mentor Dr Gnazzo can guide this process.