The “What’s the IHP’s Role in Health Equity?” course that is taken by every student at the MGH Institute is also called the Community Excellence Course (CEC). That is a fitting name given how many people across the community help to make the course possible, and the national award that those efforts recently received.

Developed in 2019, the CEC integrates health equity into the curriculum of all students to train them to understand and challenge disparities. It began as an in-person workshop that took place during orientation and has evolved into an online course that includes readings, discussion, and a speaker panel. More than 4,000 learners have taken the course since it started, including over 400 in Fall 2025.

“The CEC course is an important cornerstone of the IHP values and experience,” said Director of Community Excellence Education and Programs Dr. Callie Watkins Liu. “It is a very important opportunity for growth, development and leadership. I am so proud of what we have developed and that we were able to have more participants than ever before and still be so connected."
 
The CEC is one way the Office of Mission, Values, and Community Excellence (MVCE), which includes Chief Health Equity Officer Dr. Kimberly Truong and Department Coordinator Michelle Wallace in addition to Dr. Watkins Liu, integrates health equity and community excellence (HECE) concepts and practices into the curriculum, research and institutional policies, consistent of the mission of the MGH Institute. Dr. Watkins Liu is the lead instructor overseeing the program overall, however, the course is a community-wide effort. 

Each year, there is one theme geared at fostering nuanced understandings of health experiences in the social context. During the revision process each year, Watkins Liu consults with members of the CEC committee, students, faculty and staff with experience or expertise in the thematic area to update course content. Watkins Liu works closely with Learning Experience Designer Tasneem Pota on translating the course content into a streamlined and effective learner experience in the syllabus and on D2L.
    
“It takes a true institutional effort to create a strong, well designed, and focused course with a new theme to make the course content relevant and timely,” said Pota. “It has been a proud and meaningful achievement to see the impact this course has made over the years.”

Pota, along with Learning Experience Designer Joyce Latulippe, and Video Content Developer Sally Wu work with the MVCE Office and Instructional Technology Manager Greg Moore, to bring the content to students in a variety of digital formats. Once the course content is set, students, faculty, and staff who have previously taken the course serve as facilitators for the discussion portion of the course to enable participants to grasp the learning objectives. 

“The “What’s the IHP’s Role in Health Equity?” course is a collaborative effort,” said Moore. “Not just between the Office of Mission, Values and Community Excellence and the Instructional Technology team, but with everyone across the IHP who supports the course and facilitates for it.”

Three people stand in front of a banner with the man in the center holding a trophy
Tasneem Pota, Greg Moore, and Callie Watkins Liu accepted the 2025 D2L Excellence Award at the D2L Fusion global conference in Savannah, Georgia in July.

The results have been impressive. After taking the course, 87% of participants reported that the experience changed their perspective on health-equity related concepts and 93% find the course used for their professional and educational goals. Studies by faculty and students have shown the course enhances self-reflection and advocacy skills among healthcare professionals, which contribute to broader conversations about healthcare. 

With the combination of results and the support from the community, the CEC recently earned the D2L Excellence Award from the company that developed the online tool used in the course. The MGH Institute was one of six organizations that were recognized for their innovation, progress, and the betterment of learning in the communities served by D2L tools. The Spring iteration of this theme of CEC will be happening between December and January and facilitator and participant sign up forms will go out in October and November, reach out to Dr. Watkins Liu if you are interested in learning more.