By DoM Communications | Date published: October 1, 2026
Advancing High-Value Care Education Through the STARS Program at UMass Chan
Since 2022, UMass Chan Medical School has been affiliated with the Students and Trainees Advocating for Resource Stewardship (STARS) program, which supports integrating high-value care principles into undergraduate medical education. Sandhya Tagaram, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine, serves as the institutional lead for the STARS Program at UMass Chan and has recently introduced an optional High-Value Care Enrichment elective at UMass. This initiative responds to findings from a 2024 needs assessment project focused on integrating high-value care concepts with clinical medicine for all UMass Chan medical students.
Dr. Tagaram and her team have also collaborated with UCSD students in building a health value lab to support practical implementation of HVC teaching through case-based learning. Through the STARS program, Dr. Tagaram also mentors students in quality improvement, educational scholarships, and high-value care projects.
This year, two UMass students, Katherine Axel and Aaron Lee, along with Dr. Tagaram, were selected to serve on the National STARS Advisory Board and Clerkship Task Force, reflecting UMass's growing influence in nationally advancing high-value care education.
Below are some scholarly and educational achievements shared on behalf of Dr. Tagaram and the STARS program:
- Project 1 (2024-2025): Assessment of First-Year Medical Students' Value-Based Care Competency: A Preliminary Analysis
Ritika Revoori, Sandhya Tagaram, Sophia Guccione, Aaron Lee, Euna Lee, Kenny Huang, Claudia Y. Hyun, Xiao J. Tong, David Fish
This project evaluated baseline value-based care competencies among first-year medical students and examined opportunities for curriculum enhancement. The abstract was accepted for presentation at the 2026 National STARS Conference. - Project 2 (2025-2026): Assessment of First-Year Medical Students' Value-Based Care Competency: A Preliminary Analysis
Katherine Axel, MPH, KeeSeok Lee, BA, Alice Liu, BSc, Edward Pham, BS, Sandhya Tagaram
Building upon the initial work, this project further explored medical student (MS1) competency development in value-based care and equipping future physicians with the tools to provide and advocate for value-based care, which leads to meaningful implications for patients and their health outcomes. The abstract was accepted for presentation at the 2026 National STARS Conference. - Project 3 (2025-2026): Identifying Diagnostic Reasoning Gaps and High-Value Care Opportunities Through Case-Based Teaching on Direct Care Teams
Alice Liu, Katherine Axel, MPH, KeeSeok Lee, BA, Edward Pham, BS, Kenny Huang
This STARS-funded grant project integrates principles of high-value care and diagnostic excellence into clinical teaching for residents and medical students. The work has received national recognition through acceptance at the Diagnostic Excellence 2026 Conference and highlights innovative approaches to improving clinical reasoning and resource stewardship simultaneously. - Kenny Huang (UMass Chan Medical School) received the STARS Student Excellence Award this year in recognition of his outstanding contributions to high-value care initiatives.
- Dr. Tagaram received the STARS Faculty Excellence Award in 2025 for sustained leadership and commitment to integrating high-value care education into the medical school curriculum and advancing national resource stewardship initiatives.