Health Equity Circle (HEC)

The Health Equity Circle (HEC) is a national network of student organizations supported by the Health Equity Circle non-profit.

Health Equity encompasses social determinants of health, limited access to specialty care, advocacy, and community planning to tackle issues.

Our mission is to create an interdisciplinary group of students who understand that health is larger than healthcare and to advocate for a holistic approach to community health that aims to provide community members with the infrastructure necessary to achieve best possible health outcomes, including housing security, food security, preventative out-of-hospital care, and many other facets of a healthy life. We will pursue these initiatives first locally, particularly in the MSU, Montana WWAMI, and larger Gallatin County communities. 

The first HEC chapter was founded in 2009 by students and faculty/staff allies who saw health equity and the skills of community organizing as essential to their education and development. They started HEC to target these issues and start making small successes in their community. 

The HEC chapter at Montana State University is a branch of the Bozeman HEC chapter with the other branch at the WWAMI medical school. This chapter is a multidisciplinary and inter-professional student group that understands that health equity is a shared responsibility and that all inequities have health consequences. The goal of our chapter is to include undergrad, graduate, and professional students in the social sciences, public health, healthcare, and law.