Vision, Mission & Values

Become the premier medical school revolutionizing health education and inspiring discovery now and for future generations.

The mission of Tufts University School of Medicine is to educate a diverse body of students and advance medical knowledge in a dynamic and collaborative environment. We seek to foster the development of dedicated clinicians, scientists, public health professionals, and educators who will have a sustained positive impact on the health of individuals, communities, and the world.

To achieve the goals of our mission statement, our faculty, students and staff demonstrate our commitment to the following core values in all that we do:

Commitment to Excellence

To cultivate a perpetual spirit of inquiry and creativity, leading to outstanding evidence-based health care, rigorous research and scholarship, and inspired teaching.

Commitment to Humanism

To relieve suffering and improve quality of life. To treat all people with compassion, respecting human dignity and autonomy.

Commitment to Social Responsibility

To serve and advocate for all people, especially underserved and vulnerable patients and populations, by addressing social determinants of health, health equity, social justice, and stewardship of social resources.

Commitment to Professionalism

To act in accordance with the highest standards of integrity, demonstrating personal accountability and resilience, collegiality and teamwork, and the pursuit of lifelong learning.

A Better Future for All People

While each of our programs is different, they are connected by a desire to prepare students to do work that makes the world a better place, and moves the discipline of public health forward.

Mission

To prepare students for careers in public health practice through which they will advance societal and environmental conditions to promote health and to eliminate racism and inequities. To conduct research and provide community service that has a meaningful impact in making our host communities of Chinatown and the greater Boston Metro area healthier and more equitable places. To support our partner institutions and host communities in public health education, research, and service locally and globally.

Vision

The Tufts Public Health Program seeks a world where all people live in conditions that allow them to achieve their highest attainable level of health, are supported by equitable political, economic and social systems, and have access to integrated, effective, high quality public health and health care services.

Tufts University School of Medicine embraces diversity in the broadest form, including racial, ethnic, religious socioeconomic, geographic diversity, as well as diversity in gender and sexual orientation.

We believe that a diverse student body is essential for the creation of a teaching and learning environment that promotes excellence, quality and equity as core values among our future physicians, scientists and public health advocates, a workforce equipped with the knowledge and skill needed to address the range of health challenges facing our increasingly diverse patient population and their communities.

To this end, Tufts School of Medicine is committed to pursuing initiatives that will diversify the applicant pool and improve the selection process in order to create the most diverse student body.

Learn more about our commitment to diversity and equality

Mission

Tufts University is a student-centered research university dedicated to the creation and application of knowledge. We are committed to providing transformative experiences for students and faculty in an inclusive and collaborative environment where creative scholars generate bold ideas, innovate in the face of complex challenges and distinguish themselves as active citizens of the world.

Vision

To be an innovative university of creative scholars across a broad range of schools who have a profound impact on one another and the world.

Values

Diversity and Inclusion

We seek to promote respect and understanding for differences through the composition of our faculty, staff, and student body; our curriculum; and through the establishment of a welcoming and inclusive institutional environment.

Equity and Justice

We are committed to using the tools of public health to address health inequities so that all members of society have an equal opportunity for health and wellbeing. We advocate and work with our community against all inequitable systems of hierarchy and their intersections. We believe that working towards equity requires an actively anti-racist stance both in the United States and across the globe.

Collaborative Partnerships and Community Building

Our teaching, research, and service include a strong commitment to our immediate neighborhood, Boston’s Chinatown and to the greater Metro Boston area. We strive to give our students the capacity to collaborate on multidisciplinary and multicultural teams of professionals and community members.

Academic Rigor and Scientific Integrity

Through the education we provide, we seek to instill in our students a deep understanding of the complexity and global reach of public health challenges and the importance of evidence in addressing them. Through active learning, discussion, and debate, as well as through our public health research and practice, the program seeks to foster in our students and faculty: 1) the knowledge and skills necessary to prevent disease and injury, promote health, and protect populations from harm; and 2) critical thinking skills that will enhance a lifetime of learning. We expect the highest ethical standards of all members of our community both in their research and practice.

Cultural Humility

We seek to enhance our students’ understanding of their own culture and how it relates with others and to advance their capacity as public health professionals to work in the increasingly diverse communities throughout Massachusetts, our nation, and the world.

Action

Public health professionals must learn how to take action to effect change at many levels of our society, including within our professions, institutions, public policies, and politics. Change, to improve the human condition and to prevent future disease, requires both applied practice skills in community, agency, and political settings as well as a continuing search for new knowledge and new methods.

Sustainability

We recognize that the health of human populations is dependent on the health of the planet, and that a commitment to human health must include a commitment to the sustainable use of resources, equitable economic systems, and the preservation of the natural environment. We encourage our students to be efficient and effective in applying public health resources to areas of greatest need.