at Harvard Medical School
Benefactor Report
July 2026
Table of Contents
01.
Letter from the Dean
02.
Nourishing Students and Strengthening Community
Supporting Mental Health and Transportation to Clinical Sites
03.
Christine and Dave Ament HMS Student Experience Fund
Letter from the Dean
George Q. Daley, MD, PhD
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Harvard University
Caroline Shields Walker Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
George Q. Daley, MD, PhD | Dean of the Faculty of Medicine | Caroline Shields Walker Professor of Medicine
25 Shattuck Street, Boston, MA 02115 | t: (617) 432-1501 | e: George_Daley@hms.harvard.edu
Dear Christine and Dave,
The Christine and Dave Ament HMS Student Experience Fund continues to make a profound and tangible difference in the lives of Harvard Medical School students. Your support enables us to help students cover the cost of necessities, address emergencies, prioritize student wellness, and ensure community is central to the HMS student experience.
Over the past year, the Office of Student Affairs has used the Ament Fund strategically and proactively to address students’ core needs, including providing food access, transportation to clinical sites, and mental health support, while continuing to foster a strong sense of connection across campus.
In this report, you will find details on how the fund supported students this year across four key areas: food access, mental health subsidies, transportation to clinical sites, and community‑building initiatives. Together, these efforts illustrate how the Ament Fund is making an impact on the everyday lives and experiences of HMS students. Your transformative investment continues to drive a comprehensive, coordinated approach to student support and holistic well‑being.
This integrated portfolio reflects a clear vision: medical students thrive when they have reliable access to nutritious food, affordable mental health care, and transportation — and when they belong to a community that values balance, connection, and resilience. Through the Ament Fund, HMS is increasingly able to realize this vision, and students are better positioned to advance in their training, grow as professionals, and care for patients with confidence, empathy, and resilience.
Thank you for making this work possible and for your steadfast commitment to Harvard Medical School students. Your investment is changing lives today and nurturing the next generation of physician leaders.
With sincere gratitude,
July 22, 2026
Over the past year, emerging research on food insecurity among medical students has underscored what students have long observed: a significant number of HMS students struggle to reliably access nutritious, affordable food. In response to these findings and to what students have shared directly, HMS has expanded resources to better support those facing these challenges. The Christine and Dave Ament HMS Student Experience Fund has enabled the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) to address this need in both immediate and structural ways, weaving food access more fully into the fabric of student support at HMS.
Through the Ament Fund, HMS is building a robust infrastructure to address food insecurity. The OSA created the Student Social Committee, a dedicated working group of students and staff, to examine students’ basic needs, with particular emphasis on food access and transportation. Together with the Student Social Committee and the Environment and Safety Food Group, OSA has identified and begun preparing a campus space for a student food pantry that will serve as a centralized resource for students facing food insecurity and unmet basic needs. The Ament Fund has made the creation of this food pantry possible.
A recent qualitative study of HMS students found that food insecurity has wide-ranging impacts on some students—on their physical and mental health, sense of belonging, social life, and even academic performance. Food insecure students have often relied on loans, free food, and informal support to cope. These findings underscore the urgency of institutional responses, such as the Ament Fund’s investments in food access and basic needs support.
A Qualitative Exploration of Lived Food Insecurity Experiences Among Harvard Medical Students
Even as the pantry is underway, students have access to nutritious food through the “Crunch Time” initiative. Housed in OSA, this program allows students to stop between classes and clinical responsibilities to pick up free grab-and-go items they can easily enjoy in the office or on their way to study spaces, laboratories, and clinical settings. Offerings include granola bars and other healthy snacks that accommodate vegan, non-vegan, and a range of dietary needs. Each week, OSA supplements these staples with fresh food choices, including dedicated fruit and yogurt days that many students now incorporate into their regular routines.
The Ament Fund has also allowed HMS to bring this support directly into clinical environments. This year, OSA launched a pilot to extend Crunch Time to the main campus of Massachusetts General Hospital, providing the same healthy options to students completing their clerkships. For students on demanding rotations, limited time to leave the hospital and prohibitive cafeteria prices make it difficult to eat regular meals. By making free, healthy snacks available on both campus and clinical sites, Crunch Time helps students maintain their energy, focus, and overall well‑being while meeting the demands of rigorous academic and clinical schedules.
The OSA is collaborating with public health researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who study food insecurity among Harvard medical students, to design the pantry. Informed by this collaboration, the working group is creating a model that prioritizes accessibility and dignity. The pantry will be open to all students, with targeted outreach to those experiencing food insecurity, but without intrusive eligibility requirements or practices that could increase stigma. It will also serve as an entry point to additional supports, including mental health services and community resources, for students navigating financial, academic, and personal challenges.
Expanding Food Access and Addressing Food Insecurity
Students enjoying Crunch Time
A recent qualitative study of HMS students found that food insecurity has wide-ranging impacts on some students—on their physical and mental health, sense of belonging, social life, and even academic performance. Food insecure students have often relied on loans, free food, and informal support to cope. These findings underscore the urgency of institutional responses, such as the Ament Fund’s investments in food access and basic needs support.
In addition to meeting essential needs related to food, mental health, and transportation, the Ament Fund continues to foster a strong sense of community and belonging at Harvard Medical School. Recognizing that connection to peers and to the broader HMS community is a powerful protective factor against stress and burnout, the fund supports initiatives that bring students together in meaningful, restorative ways.
The Student Wellness Ambassador Program, sustained by the Ament Fund, remains a cornerstone of these efforts. Each year, a small cohort of paid student ambassadors works closely with the Office of Student Affairs to design and implement wellness programming that reflects students’ evolving needs and interests. Ambassadors play multiple roles: they create and promote events, amplify awareness of resources such as Crunch Time, the emerging food pantry, mental health subsidies, and transportation assistance, and serve as peer‑level champions for a culture in which seeking support is normalized and encouraged.
Ambassador-led activities this year have ranged from mini-golf outings to wellness panels. These programs offer intentional pauses in demanding schedules, giving students opportunities to relax and connect with classmates. In doing so, they reinforce the idea that well-being is not an add-on to medical training but an integral part of it at HMS.
Complementing the ambassadors' work, the Fund also supports two grant programs: the Community Connections grants and the HMS Student Well-Being Fund grants. Through these programs, HMS students can propose and lead their own community-building initiatives, from small-group gatherings to larger events that draw participants across class years, societies, and interest groups. Together, these grants broaden the range of wellness programming available while empowering students to shape their own experiences of connection and belonging.
Fostering Community and Connection
Indoor Bouldering Wellness Event
Students attending a show at the Hasty Pudding
Theatricals
Students at a Clay Room Arts and Crafts event supported by a Well-Being Fund
Students at a mini-golf event organized by OSA Student Well-Being Ambassadors
Nourishing Students and Strengthening Community
Supporting Mental Health and Transportation to Clinical Sites
The Ament Fund has also been pivotal in expanding direct financial assistance for mental health care, recognizing that out‑of‑pocket costs can be a substantial barrier even when services are available. Through the Office of Student Affairs’ mental health subsidy program, students can apply for reimbursement of expenses such as therapy, psychiatry visits, and eligible workshops, enabling them to access and sustain the care they need.
Many students report that, while they may have access to therapists, weekly co-pays add up quickly and can make ongoing treatment a financial impossibility. This subsidy program has been described as a “game changer” for students who need regular mental health services while balancing multiple financial pressures; the Ament fund subsidized mental health resources for more than 65 students in the past academic year.
Historically, the program offered up to $500 per student each academic year. In response to strong student demand and clear feedback about ongoing need—and thanks to the support of the Ament fund—HMS has doubled the reimbursement cap to $1,000 per academic year.
Expanding Access to Mental Health Resources
This is one of the best programs for students at HMS.
Thank you for creating it.
I absolutely love this subsidy. Without it, I would have a really hard time accessing mental health care.
The Principal Clinical Experience (PCE) is extremely emotionally intense, and I genuinely don't know how people are managing it without having therapy to process the experiences we witness in medicine.
I have been seeing some patient losses, and it is super helpful to process in therapy with this subsidy."
This program has been fantastic! It has allowed me to continue much-needed therapy without the worry of the financial burden of copays. Especially being a PCE student, this is the best program that allows me to better my mental health [especially when I can't attend because of my hospital schedule].
Student Feedback on the Subsidy Program:
Supporting Transportation to Clinical Sites
The Ament Fund also helps address the practical challenges of traveling to clinical sites across the greater Boston area. Even in a city with extensive public transportation, time, cost, and logistics can pose significant barriers for medical students whose schedules are tightly scheduled around classes, clinical responsibilities, and studying. Although many clinical sites are technically accessible by bus or train, multi-leg commutes can be difficult to manage within narrow windows between obligations, especially for rotations located outside the Longwood Medical Area and in community health settings.
To help mitigate these pressures, the fund provides transportation assistance to students placed at more remote or hard-to-reach clinical sites. This targeted support helps offset expenses such as additional transit fares or other transportation costs that would otherwise fall entirely on students. By reducing the financial and logistical burdens of travel, the Ament Fund enables students to take full advantage of the breadth of clinical experiences HMS offers, rather than being constrained by how they will get there.
This support is especially important for students who do not have access to a car and rely on public transportation, as well as those juggling complex schedules that leave little room for lengthy commutes. The transportation assistance funded by the Ament Fund is not simply a convenience; it is a key mechanism for maintaining equitable access to clinical education across the student body and for supporting learners as they move between the classroom and the bedside.
Altogether, these initiatives demonstrate how the Christine and Dave Ament HMS Student Experience Fund has improved students' daily lives. The fund expands access to nutritious food, affordable mental health care, and reliable transportation to clinical sites, while also creating intentional opportunities for students to build community. As a result, HMS students are better positioned to progress in their training and care for patients with confidence, empathy, and resilience.Bottom of Form