Principles of Community Week: Celebrating A Pioneer in Health Equity – Dr. Jann Murray-García
During February 12–16, the UC Davis campuses in Davis and Sacramento celebrated Principles of Community Week — a time spent reflecting on the shared aspiration to advance respect, equity, learning and community. This year, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was delighted to highlight Dr. Jann Murray-García of UC Davis Health. Murray-García’s inspirational career embodies the principles and its core values.
As a founding faculty member of the Betty Irene More School of Nursing, clinical professor and a faculty director of professional education opportunities for students, staff, faculty and health system administrators, Murray-García has dedicated her career to anti-racism efforts, cultural humility and interprofessional collaboration within healthcare and education.
Along with fellow pediatrician Melanie Tervalon, Murray-García founded and advanced the concept of “cultural humility” — an essential component of culturally inclusive care based on self-reflection, attention to power imbalances, the highlighting of community expertise and stewarding institutional processes and priorities that both facilitate and engender individuals’ actions. Murray-García developed the Anti-Racism and Cultural Humility (ARC) Fellowship and Academy and ARC trainings. The latter, multi-day immersive experiences for nurse leaders, faculty and health system leaders, focuses on operationalizing equity and inclusion in the health field and within UCDH.
In 2010, Dr. Murray-García founded the UCDH Interprofessional Book Club and has facilitated these student/faculty/staff/community member discussions for ten of the annual UC Davis Campus Community Book Project selections, plus several more timely titles not part of the Book Project. Initially offered as in-person events with lunch hosted by the SON, the Book Club is now conducted on Zoom. For instance, last year there were several attendees from a human service agency down in Bakersfield, as well as a clinician from the state prison medical site in Vacaville.
Always eager to engage the community, Murray-García started the Interprofessional Central Valley Road Trip. The overnight field trip brings together medical and nursing school students, faculty, staff and community members to learn about the rich history of the Central Valley and its people. The trip also imparts crucial, historically-contexted lessons in social determinants of health, health inequities and cultural humility. Murray-García reflected on the impact of the trip:
“We think we have an idea of what this land rich in history and diversity is all about, but I sensed we, as current and future health providers, could have a better sense. If we’re going to build a health care system that serves everyone as well as it can, we need to understand the social and public policy determinants of health for those we serve.”
Throughout her career, Murray-García's work has addressed hate crimes, racism and racial inequity in the Davis community and in its public schools. Her collaboration with youth filmmakers resulted in the award-winning documentary, "From the Community to the Classroom," spotlighting how students learn race in this high-performing school district, and the impact of youth activism on the entire community.
In 2011, Murray-García initiated the Summer Institute on Race and Health — a four-week clerkship for UC Davis School of Medicine students that analyzes the social-historical construction of race and its impact on public health, clinical practice and transformative community leadership. The institute is part of Transforming Education and Community Health for Medical Students (TEACH-MS), a four-year program for medical students aspiring to be primary care leaders serving underserved urban communities.
In 2012 and 2019, Murray-García was awarded the Chancellor’s Achievement Award for Diversity and Community, recognizing her efforts to support the equitable development and well-being of our institutional community and society. Officially “retired” on January 31 from UCDH to pursue her dream of being a full-time writer on these issues, we celebrate the legacy she leaves and are hopeful that she will remain engaged with the UC Davis community for years to come.
Learn more about Dr. Murray-García’s work and recognitions:
- Jann Murray-García, M.D., M.P.H.
- Anti-Racism and Cultural Humility (ARC) Fellowship and Academy
- CLASSROOM ON WHEELS Central Valley bus tour deepens connection
- Professor takes learning on the road
- Chancellor's Achievement Awards for Diversity and Community
- Chancellor presents diversity-community achievement awards
- Honoring Key Figures in Our Diversity
- Deans' Award for Excellence in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Recipient