We don’t come with the answers. We come to immerse ourselves and open ourselves to sharing – giving and receiving – being self-reflective and aware of who we are in each environment.  

We strive for equitable partnerships and the elevation of the communities where we live and work.  We structure solidarity directly into our program, with half of our cohort coming from the underserved communities where HEAL works.

Equity is our foundational principle. We believe no one should die from diseases we know how to treat.

In traditional medical education we are trained to ignore the reality that illness and premature death are heavily rooted in economic, educational, racial, and power inequities. At HEAL, we seek to impact both the patients in front of us, the communities we serve, and the larger structural violence our patients find themselves in.

The conditions producing inequality are deep and systemic.  It is only together through cohorts of colleagues, allies, and teams, that we can transform ourselves and create the momentum for lasting change.

In Oakland, in the backdrop of HEAL offices, the Black Panthers took up the right to health as a natural extension of commitment to oppressed peoples. We chose to work in Navajo Nation, farmworker country in California, and in many marginalized  communities, to accompany and serve the underserved everyday.

We believe that the immersive and intensive experience of delivering care to underserved patients is our greatest teacher.   We witness, serve, and stay. We witness deep injustices, and don’t look away.

It has been said that change is slow, except when it’s fast.   The arc of change comes from perseverance. Of showing up repeatedly and staying.  It comes with understanding who came before you and collaborating with others who have been working long before HEAL started and will be there long after HEAL dissolves.