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EnglishWhat Is the Connection Between UCSF Synapse and UCSF Students?
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UCSF Synapse is the school newspaper of UCSF, and its connection to students runs in both directions: students read it, and students write it. The site describes itself as "The School Newspaper," and its content is built around the UCSF community — student life, campus history, ethics, social justice, and creative work. If you are a UCSF student, Synapse is both a publication aimed at you and an outlet open to you.
A newspaper rooted in the UCSF community
Synapse's stories are not generic health news. They are tied to UCSF people, programs, and history. Recent items on the home page show the range:
| Story | Category | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| "Lessons We Carry" | Student Life | Incoming UCSF medical students taking part in Differences Matter Orientation (DMO), a two-day immersive program in their first week |
| "This Date in UCSF History: Engineering Fear" | Ethics | A reprint from Synapse, originally published Sept. 29, 1983, on questions around transforming or creating living organisms |
| "This Date in UCSF History: Our WHO Promise" | Politics | A look back at international agreement obligations and what happens when they are broken |
| "Training for Health Justice" | Social Justice | A note that applications for a new round of the Environmental Scholars Program are open to UCSF students who meet its requirements |
| "What Enamel Remembers" | Health | Dentistry, early detection, and health economics, from the UK's NHS to emerging diagnostic technologies |
| "What's in a Name?" and "These Days, Who Knows?" | Health / Fiction | First-place winners of the Synapse Storytelling Contest, in the nonfiction and fiction categories |
That mix is the point: a student at UCSF can find coverage of their own orientation experience, archival campus history, and student-written fiction in the same place.
Students are the writers, not just the audience
The home page includes a direct call to participation: "Have a story to share? UCSF is always looking for new people to write and share articles." A "Submit an Article" button sits alongside it, and the publication also points readers to @ucsf_synapse on Instagram.
So the relationship is participatory. If you are a UCSF student with a story, an essay, a reported piece, or contest-worthy fiction or nonfiction, Synapse presents itself as an open channel rather than a closed editorial staff.
It records both the present and the past
The recurring "This Date in UCSF History" feature is the clearest sign of Synapse's role as an institutional memory. These entries reprint or revisit pieces from decades earlier — the Sept. 29, 1983 item on genetic engineering is one example — and place them next to current student writing. For students, that means the paper functions as a running record: what UCSF students cared about in 1983 and what they care about now appear side by side.
What this means if you are a UCSF student
- As a reader: expect content about UCSF student life, campus history, ethics, politics, social justice, health, and creative writing — not just institutional announcements.
- As a writer: the site states it is always looking for new contributors and provides a submission button; the Storytelling Contest shows that student work is recognized and published.
- As a community member: the paper's scope is the UCSF community, so its stories are likely to reference programs, orientations, and figures you already encounter on campus.
The connection, in short, is that Synapse is by and for the UCSF community — a student-facing newspaper that publishes student work and keeps a long view of the school's history.