A $1.2 million grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) will allow UNMC to strengthen its pipeline of students from population groups that are traditionally underrepresented in medicine and dentistry.
The four-year grant enables UNMC to create a six-week enrichment program for students in Nebraska or around the nation who come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, racial and ethnic groups or rural areas.
The enrichment program will be based on the Foundation’s Summer Medical and Dental Education Program (SMDEP) for undergraduate college students at UNMC’s Omaha campus. UNMC is among 12 academic health centers nationwide to host this program.
The SMDEP is part of RWJF’s Human Capital Portfolio and supports its goal to attract, develop and retain a high-quality health and health care workforce, with an emphasis on diversity and leadership development.
Rubens Pamies, M.D., vice chancellor for academic affairs at UNMC, who is principal investigator of the grant, said: “This six-week enrichment program will bring undergraduate students up-to-speed not only on the fundamentals in the core sciences of medical and dental school, but it also provides them the strategies they will need when applying to those schools.”
Along with academic courses in biology, chemistry and physics, the students who participate in this program will get advice on writing their essay for medical and dental school, filling out the applications and interviewing skills.
“The reason people don’t get accepted into a professional school isn’t just because of a low GPA and entrance exam scores, it can also be because their approach to the application process is wrong,” Dr. Pamies said. An applicant might have a great resume and high test scores, he said, but if the person fails the interview he or she won’t get in.
Lois Colburn, project director of the four-year grant and executive director of continuing education at UNMC, said the SMDEP is set to begin with the first group of 80 students coming to UNMC in June 2006. Students interested in applying to the program should send an e-mail to smdep@unmc.edu.
“The target audience is rising sophomores and juniors who are from economically disadvantaged backgrounds or racial, ethnic and geographic groups that are underrepresented in medicine and dentistry,” Colburn said.
John Reinhardt, D.D.S., dean of the UNMC College of Dentistry, said: “This is a great opportunity for both us and the students. We can help the students learn about and strengthen their passion for medicine and dentistry while also showcasing our strong medical and dental schools.”
Another important aspect of the program, Dr. Pamies said, is that it reveals things about the students that don’t necessarily show up on paper. “Drive, motivation, ambition, perseverance – you really get a sense of those things when you work with a person,” he said.
Each student will receive a $1,000 stipend, attend classes taught by faculty from UNMC and the University of Nebraska at Omaha and have clinical shadowing opportunities in medicine and dentistry. All of the students will become certified in Basic Life Support and Heart Saver First Aid.
“This program is not only a great recruiting tool,” Dr. Pamies said, “but a way to create a strong pipeline for rural, disadvantaged and underrepresented minorities to enter the field of health professions.”
“This grant is clear recognition of UNMC’s continuing commitment to addressing a major problem in health care, namely insufficient access to health services among underserved populations,” said Jay Noren, M.D., executive vice president and provost with the University of Nebraska.
Dr. Noren said a key factor in solving that problem is increased education of health professionals from underserved populations.
“The university takes great pride in UNMC’s success as it joins an elite group of nationally respected academic health centers in receiving this grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,” he said.
Other institutions receiving funding include: Case Western Reserve University Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and School of Dental & Oral Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and UCLA School of Dentistry, Duke University School of Medicine, Howard University Colleges of Dentistry & Medicine, The University of Texas Dental Branch and Medical School at Houston, UMDNJ New Jersey Medical and New Jersey Dental School, University of Louisville Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Virginia School of Medicine, University of Washington Schools of Medicine and Dentistry and Yale School of Medicine.