BUFFALO, N.Y. — First-year medical school students Jenna Herskind and Connor Orrico are on the cutting edge of learning how to treat patients.

Their education takes place here in the Behling Simulation Center at the UB Jacobs School of Medicine.

But before they come to the hospital doctors have to know more about the patients their treating. They're learning through a course called Health in the Neighborhood.

"It's really designed around the idea that healthcare doesn't only happen in the clinical setting that we're use to learning about it in,” Herskind said. “It's based on the paradigm that people experiencing health and experiencing health disparities in their communities on a day-to-day basis. And the best way to learn about those disparities is to meet a community where it's at and learn from the mouths of people who are experiencing those health disparities.”