These guides are developed with a focus on health disparities. Health disparities are described as "preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence, or opportunities to achieve optimal health that are experienced by populations that have been disadvantaged by their social or economic status, geographic location, and environment." (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What is Health Equity? Retrieved March 14, 2024, from https://www.cdc.gov/healthequity/whatis/index.html)
There are many types of health disparities including low birth weights or higher rates of exposure (and many more) that can be due to a variety of factors including: socioeconomic status, systemic forms of exclusion and discrimination, and environmental factors that often intertwine in their origins and outcomes.
Additionally, this section is inspired by the Diversity Health Series, initially created by Kaiser Permente. DMU is one of the few medical schools to have this learning tool. All films from the DHS are housed under the Diversity and Multicultural Affairs' Panopto Folder. The DHS has been embedded into the curriculum of several DMU programs, but is also offered through the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs every semester.