The Health Justice Scholars (HJS) Track at the School of Medicine is the primary entry point to engaging with the Health Justice Alliance (HJA). Each year, HJS students work with law students to prepare for meetings with congressional representatives as part of the HJS’s Capitol Hill Advocacy Day.

During their clinical years, HJS students may apply to complete their Social Justice and Advocacy Elective rotation at the Law Center. More in dpth experience is provided to HJS students selected to embed in the HJA Law Clinic, where they participate as full-members of the medical-legal partnership (MLP) team, provide medical consultation on law clinic cases and projects, and support broader policy and advocacy efforts as needed.

Medical students also embed in other Law Center clinics, including the Criminal Defense and Prisoner Advocacy Clinic and the Policy Clinic (Harrison Institute). Some HJS students apply to conduct their Independent Scholarly Project (ISP) and HJS Advocacy project with HJA faculty on health justice topics.  Students contribute to HJA’s research and evaluation efforts, like the design of HJA’s longitudinal PIPEline study on the impact of MLP learning on students, and help HJA assess opportunities for new MLPs with MedStar Health.

Any first-year medical student can enroll in the HJA Selective, Medical-Legal Partnership: A Collaborative Approach to Health Justice, as an introduction to the MLP approach to healthcare and the HJA’s work.