It started with a question
What if the students most committed to their communities were recognized for it?
From one medical school to a national movement
In 2021, a group of academic physicians at the University of South Dakota asked a question no one had answered: Why wasn't there a national medical honor society that recognized students for what they actually did in their communities — not just their test scores or their bedside manner, but their willingness to act?
Alpha Omega Alpha recognizes academic achievement. The Gold Humanism Honor Society recognizes compassion. Aequitas Health was built to honor something neither of them do: action — not just achievement, but what students actually build in their communities. The name comes from the Latin aequitas, meaning fairness or equity. Every fellow completes a project that addresses a real health need in a real community.
The fellows we honor don't wait for systems to change. They build what doesn't exist.
What started at one medical school in the northern Great Plains now spans 12 chapters across 12 states. The model is simple: $100 per year for the chapter, $0 for the students, and every leader serves without compensation.
Aequitas Health recognizes the medical students who build what doesn't exist to serve the communities that need them most.
Because action, not just achievement, is the highest honor in medicine.
2021 — 2026
Founded
First chapter established at the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine. First fellows inducted. Aequitas Health Journal launches.
Multi-State Launch
Multi-state expansion across the Midwest, Southeast, and Southwest. Journal publishes first editorially reviewed reflections and project reports.
McNulty Catalyst Award
Honored with the John P. McNulty Prize through the McNulty Foundation — recognizing organizations leveraging talent to create meaningful change. Chapters expand to New England and the West Coast.
National Conference Launches
First annual National Aequitas Health Conference. 200+ fellows inducted across the network. Conference becomes the flagship platform for fellow scholarship and community impact.
Grants, Awards & Continued Growth
Launch of competitive grant program funding chapter and fellow projects. Second annual conference with distinguished speakers from academic medicine, health systems, and industry. 11 active chapters across 11 states.
Year Three & Beyond
Third annual National Conference. Twelfth chapter established. Second grant cycle supporting fellow and chapter projects across the network. The model — free to students, faculty-led, community-grounded — continues to scale.
Service · Recognition · Scholarship · Community
Service
Fellows run free clinics, build opioid-response programs, and launch vision screenings in communities where access to care is limited or absent. Every project starts by listening to what a community actually needs — then building something that lasts beyond a single academic year.
Recognition
The top 5–10% of each class are honored with a lifetime fellowship credential. Aequitas seeks every opportunity to highlight, elevate, and advance fellows who are building health solutions in their communities.
Scholarship
Fellow work can be published in the Aequitas Health Journal, presented at the annual National Conference, and is eligible for competitive grants — building the evidence base for better care and showing others what's possible.
Community
A growing network of fellows, faculty, and chapters building on each other's work. Every patient deserves a fair opportunity to be healthy — fellows work where the gaps are widest, in rural, urban, and tribal communities.
What fellows receive
Every Aequitas Health Fellow receives a lifetime fellowship — free, with no dues or fees, ever.
Honor Society Certificate & Cord
Formal recognition from the national organization, plus a distinctive graduation cord for commencement.
Journal Publication
Publish research, reflections, and creative work in the Aequitas Health Journal — an editorially reviewed health equity publication.
National Conference
Present your work and learn from distinguished speakers — free, virtual, and on your schedule.
Competitive Grants
Apply for project funding. In 2025, $1,500 was awarded across 3 grants for fellow and chapter projects.
Plus 10 career and project development resources. Read the full Welcome Guide →
Founded & Led
Professor of Pediatrics at the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine, practicing at Avera Children's Hospital serving a predominantly rural population encompassing several Native American communities. Board of Regents at the American College of Critical Care Medicine. NIH-funded researcher with 75+ peer-reviewed publications, including in the New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst and Harvard Business Review. As a pediatric critical care leader, he has authored national clinical guidelines at the American Academy of Pediatrics and Society of Critical Care Medicine. Former Senior Advisor at McKinsey & Company. Bush Fellow, Aspen Health Innovators Fellow, and member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. Recipient of the 2023 McNulty Catalyst Award through the John P. McNulty Prize, and a Presidential Leadership Scholar (Class of 2026).
Spends his free time building a world of Legos with his son.
President and Co-Founder of The Legacy Foundation South Dakota. Works in the Office of the Dean at USD Sanford School of Medicine. MA in nonprofit management and child & adult advocacy studies. Originally from the United Kingdom, she is a published author of two dozen books, a LEND parent & family trainee graduate, and a dedicated voice for special needs families.
Three children, two fluffy cats, and a passion for cinema.
Faculty advisors and student leaders at every chapter
Each of our 12 chapters is led by a faculty advisor — typically a physician or professor with deep roots in their community — and a student leadership team elected by their peers. Together, they set election standards, mentor fellows, and ensure every project addresses a genuine local need.
Our chapter faculty represent academic medicine, community health, pediatrics, psychiatry, emergency medicine, and public health — a cross-section of the specialties most engaged with health disparities in their regions. Every leader serves without compensation.
McNulty Catalyst Award
2023 Awardee
The John P. McNulty Prize recognizes leaders leveraging their talents to make a meaningful difference. Aequitas Health was honored for building a volunteer-run movement of medical students committed to improving health in their communities.
"Physicians need to work on the front lines delivering compassionate, effective care but they also need to lead fundamental change in the system and in their communities to achieve health equity."
Read our McNulty Foundation profile (opens in new tab)Quick Facts
See where chapters
are making an impact
A growing network of student-led chapters across the country.