• V Ram Krishnamoorthi, Daniel Y Johnson, Spencer Asay, Alexandra Beem, Lahari Vuppaladhadiam, Grace E Keegan, Maeson L Zietowski, Samuel Chen, Shikha Jain, and Vineet M Arora.
• Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. ram.krishnamoorthi@uchicagomedicine.org.
• J Gen Intern Med. 2024 May 1; 39 (6): 105810621058-1062.

BackgroundOp-ed writing can be a powerful and accessible advocacy tool for physicians, but training is lacking in undergraduate medical education.AimTo train and engage first-year medical students in op-ed writing.SettingMidwestern research-intensive medical school.ParticipantsAll students in a required first-year health policy course in 2021 and 2022.Program DescriptionFor their health policy course's final assignment, students could opt to write an op-ed on a healthcare issue of their choice. All students received written instruction on op-ed writing. Additionally, they could access a seminar, coaching and editing by peers and faculty, and publication guidance.Program EvaluationOf 179 students over 2 years, 105 chose to write op-eds. Fifty-one attended the seminar, 35 attended peer coaching sessions, 33 accessed structured peer editing, and 23 received faculty assistance. Thirty-eight students submitted a total of 42 op-eds for publication. Twenty-two pieces were published in major outlets and 17 in the university's health policy review. Of the 22 in major outlets, 21 received editing from either peers or faculty.DiscussionAn op-ed writing curriculum can be integrated into an existing medical school health policy course, resulting in a high level of engagement and in published op-eds by medical students.© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Society of General Internal Medicine.

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