Health Equity

Dr. Chin has elucidated practical approaches to improving care of diverse individual patients and addressing systemic, structural drivers of disparities in the health care system. Through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Advancing Health Equity program, Dr. Chin collaborates with teams of state Medicaid agencies, Medicaid managed care organizations and frontline healthcare organizations to implement payment reforms to support and incentivize care transformations that advance health equity. He also partners with eight urban and rural communities to integrate medical and social care to reduce diabetes disparities through the Merck Foundation Bridging the Gap program.

Dr. Chin evaluates the value of the federally qualified health center program, improves diabetes outcomes in Chicago’s South Side through healthcare and community interventions, and improves shared decision making among clinicians and LGBTQ persons of color. He also applies ethical principles to reforms to reduce health disparities, discussions about a culture of equity, and what it means for health professionals to care and advocate for their patients. Dr. Chin’s most recent project uses improv and standup comedy, storytelling and theater to improve training of students in caring for diverse patients and engaging in constructive discussions around systemic racism and social privilege. Dr. Chin and his team created the Roadmap to Reduce Disparities cited in Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reports. Dr. Chin is a member of the National Advisory Council of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. He is a former President of the Society of General Internal Medicine.

Dr. Chin is a graduate of Harvard College and the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine, and he completed residency and fellowship training in general internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He has received mentoring awards from the Society of General Internal Medicine and University of Chicago. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2017, and recently served on NAM’s Committee on the Future of Nursing 2020-2030.

The University of Chicago, Department of Medicine has been the model of a successful, clinically active academic program in general medicine and subspecialties since its establishment in 1927. University of Chicago clinicians, researchers and educators are making major contributions on how we solve complex medical problems by integrating novel scientific findings and how we train our young physicians. Through advanced investigations, team work and data driven technology, the University of Chicago’s quest for new medical knowledge has led to innovative basic, translational and clinical research that has advanced therapies and redefined how we practice medicine. The team is dedicated to educating the next generation of physicians and scientists to carry on our legacy of discovery.