Diversity Hub

We in the department of Neurosurgery are working in partnership with the non-profit organization Oasis for Girls to offer paid internship programs for underserved high school female youth of color (ages 14-18) to expose them to medical and healthcare professional careers with mentorship, career path exploration, and professional development through hospital rotations in labs, the OR, and other academic or healthcare locations, with research projects, presentations, and interactive activities. We accept a group of 15-18 youth per cycle with 3 application / intern cycles per year. We are expanding our programs to reach other demographics (e.g. young Black males, LGBTQ+ youth, college pre-med students). Altogether these programs are housed under the title Neurosurgery Community Internship Programs (NCIP).

RIDR is a research and academic career development program funded by the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging and developed by the department's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee. We provide unique research experiences and focused mentorship to students from diverse backgrounds. Our goal is to provide an early opportunity for students to explore radiology as a career choice and support the next wave of innovation in our field.

The Innovators in Young Women's Health Program (Innovators) is a 10-month health and leadership training program which empowers young women to create a project that uniquely addresses young women's health needs specific to their school community. Innovators are hired by the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women's Health. Innovators is based on a positive youth development approach that emphasizes each girl's strengths and / assets. Working in teams, students develop a project for their school and implement it with the assistance of an adult ally in the school (wellness center staff, nurse, teacher, etc.). Innovators concludes in May with a celebration during which each team presents their projects.

The Youth Steering Committee (YSC) is a young women's health and leadership program for a group of diverse high school girls from SF public and charter schools. The YSC works together for 9 months to explore young women's health issues and to create a health & leadership summit for other high school girls. The YSC is based on a positive youth development philosophy which emphasizes the strengths and assets of young women and encourages them to see themselves as leaders among their peers, within their schools, and throughout their community. The YSC is designed to be a safe place where young women can come together to share their thoughts and ideas, develop self-confidence, and build leadership skills.