Syeachia Dennis, M.D., MPH, FAAFP, was recently named assistant dean for Equity and Community Engagement for the OU-TU School of Community Medicine. Dennis, an assistant professor of Family and Community Medicine, previously served as director of Community Medicine Curriculum for the school.
In this new role, Dennis will work with faculty members, residents, students and staff to advance efforts that address social and structural determinants of health and their impact on the community’s patient population. She will focus on the development of anti-bias curriculum within the School of Community Medicine and core curriculum for medical students, as well as building strong collaborations with organizations committed to advancing health equity.
James M. Herman, M.D., MSPH, dean of the OU-TU School of Community Medicine, said, “Dr. Dennis brings significant depth of experience and extensive background to her work with the School of Community Medicine. This new role presents exciting opportunities to move us forward in our goal to eliminate structural racism. Together, our efforts toward equity and inclusion will resonate within graduate medical education. The strategic impact will serve to improve well-being across the OU-TU campus, the Tulsa community and across the state.”
Dennis earned her medical degree from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood, Ill., and completed a family medicine residency at West Suburban Medical Center, Oak Park, Ill. She earned a master’s degree in Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Md.
Her current projects include the Focus-Forward LARC (long-acting reversible contraceptives) project through the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, as well as collaboration with the Tulsa Birth Equity Initiative toward development of a residency community health longitudinal rotation and a preconception health project.
Dennis serves on the board of directors for the Oklahoma Academy of Family Physicians and participates in the American Academy of Family Physicians Commission on Health of the Public and Science. She has presented nationally and internationally on historical trauma, and has taught graduate medical education courses focused on social determinants of health. She is published on the topic of racism as a social determinant of health for students in healthcare professions.
OU-TU SCHOOL OF COMMUNITY MEDICINE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA
The OU-TU School of Community Medicine at the University of Oklahoma is among the nation’s leaders in the growing field of community medicine, focused on population-based health outcomes and the social determinants of health. The four-year medical school located at OU-Tulsa is a joint effort between the University of Oklahoma and the University of Tulsa, and is a track within the OU College of Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. For more information, visit ou.edu/tulsa/community_medicine.
OU HEALTH PHYSICIANS
With nearly one million patient visits per year, OU Health Physicians provides healthcare with a depth and breadth of expertise that is unmatched in the region. Locations range from the Oklahoma Health Center in downtown Oklahoma City to 23 total clinics in the Oklahoma City area, Edmond and Midwest City. In the Tulsa area, 300 physicians and specialists provide clinical care at five OU Health Physicians clinics. Most providers also serve as faculty of the OU College of Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, training the next generation of physicians. For more information, visit ouhealth.com.
