Social Mission Metrics Initiative

Social Mission Metrics 2024 Released

All United States MD and DO granting institutions have been invited to take the Social Mission Metrics Self-Assessment

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With previous support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Social Mission Metrics Initiative (SMMI) aims to advance measurement and awareness of social mission in health professions education. 

SMMI has far-reaching implications for the promotion of social mission within health professions education. Our research team, working with a national advisory council and multiple external collaborators, created a self-assessment tool for dental, nursing (associate, bachelors, and masters), and medical school leaders to measure and benchmark their school to 16 key areas of social mission.

Distribution

In 2019, we sent the self-assessment to nursing, medical, and dental schools across the United States. Now, we’re re-asking medical schools to participate

Recognition

Starting in February 2024, we launched a new way for schools to be recognized for their commitment to measuring social mission using a badge

The 16 Areas of Social Mission

Learn about each of the areas of social mission that schools are evaluated on

Our Mission

The Social Mission Metrics Initiative (SMMI) aims to advance the field of social mission measurement and enhance the national conversation around social mission in health professions education.

Our Work

The Social Mission Metrics Self-Assessment provides a standardized approach to identify the level of engagement of U.S. dental, nursing, and medical schools in social mission activities. The self-assessment identifies six domains of social mission, broken further into sixteen areas for evaluation. Participation in this assessment allows school leaders to benchmark their performance to similar schools and national norms and track their progress over time.

Between 2016 to the present, we have conducted pilot testing, field testing, and qualitative interviews with health professions institutions to refine the self-assessment and adapt it with the changing times.

In 2024, we are once again inviting all U.S. based medical schools to use this self assessment to help them move in the direction of enhancing social mission. Schools that participated in 2019 have the unique opportunity to compare their previous scores to current performance, and schools who have never participated before can take advantage of this new opportunity.

Content development in 2016, survey testing and refinement in 2017, white paper and analytic framework in 2018, national self-assessment campaign in 2019, impact analysis, validation, and case studies in 2020, survey refinement and strategic planning in 2021, development and dissemination with ADN programs plus survey refinement from 2022 - 2023, medical school national distribution in 2024

SMMI began in 2016 and has progressed through the support of an interdisciplinary National Advisory Committee, literature reviews, and key informants. To date, we have engaged with over 300 health professions schools to assess their social mission status, strengths, areas for improvement, and proficiency.

In 2019, over 240 schools across medicine, nursing, and dentistry used our self-assessment tool to do a through evaluation. Recently, we partnered with the Organization for Associate Degree Nursing and The New York State Action Coalition to expand this tool to include Associate Degree Nursing, and successfully engaged with over 40 programs in 2023.  

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Champion Spotlight

The Social Mission Alliance features Social Mission Champions on our social media accounts and blog. The series highlights the important work done by those who are advancing health equity and addressing the health disparities of the society in which it exists. If you’d like to be considered for a Social Mission Champion feature, complete the form below.