On June 16, 2025, Rebecca Jordan-Young, Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, co-authored a new article titled “Making social sciences foundational to academic medicine,” published in PLoS medicine.
In the piece, Jordan-Young and her co-authors argue that social sciences should have an integral role within academic medicine, highlighting how fields like anthropology, sociology, and gender studies can strengthen medical education, research, and practice. They make the case that addressing health disparities, improving clinical outcomes, and advancing equity in healthcare all depend on the meaningful integration of social science frameworks and methods into the foundation of medical training and institutional priorities.