Second group of SMDEP scholars don white coats

SMDEP scholar Ujari Ikechukwu, a rising sophomore at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, receives his white coat from College of Dentistry Dean John Reinhardt, D.D.S.

If scholars participating in the Summer Medical and Dental Education Program (SMDEP) at UNMC this summer get nothing else from their Omaha stay, College of Medicine Dean John Gollan, M.D., Ph.D., hopes they learn about professionalism.

Professionalism — a virtue Dr. Gollan said is essential to being a success in health care — is born from simple acts of consideration, such as taking the garbage out before being asked, Dr. Gollan said.

“This simple action is an example of altruism. Professionalism starts with altruism,” Dr. Gollan told the 81 SMDEP scholars just before they received their white coats on Tuesday.

UNMC Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Rubens Pamies, M.D., told the scholars the white coats they were about to receive symbolize professionalism.

“I always wear my white coat when I am on campus,” Dr. Pamies said. “The coat reminds me of the importance of the work I do for my patients.”

This is the second year SMDEP scholars will be on campus for the summer. The program allows talented rising freshmen and sophomore undergraduate students from around the nation — who have a desire to pursue a career in medicine or dentistry — to spend six weeks at UNMC studying the fundamentals in the core sciences of medical and dental school.

Along with academic courses in biology, math, chemistry and physics, the scholars will get advice on applying for and writing essays for medical and dental school admission.

UNMC is one of only 12 campuses in the nation to host the SMDEP program — which is funded by a $1.2 million grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The foundation funds institutions that commit to match the grant award. In the case the UNMC program, matching support is provided by UNMC, The Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

The program allows UNMC to strengthen its pipeline of students from population groups traditionally underrepresented in medicine and dentistry. This year’s SMDEP class includes scholars from economically and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds and underserved communities in rural and urban areas.

A group of SMDEP students break in their new white coats on Tuesday.

Scholars in this year’s SMDEP class hail from such undergraduate institutions as Columbia University, Amherst University, the University of California-Berkeley, the University of Virginia, Notre Dame, as well as University of Nebraska campuses in Kearney, Lincoln and Omaha. Of the 81 scholars, 20 have an interest in pursuing careers in dentistry.

UNMC medical students are serving as resident advisers and teaching assistants for this year’s SMDEP class.

The program already has paid dividends for UNMC, said Lois Colburn, project director of the SMDEP grant and executive director of UNMC’s Center for Continuing Education.

Four scholars from last year’s inaugural SMDEP class are on campus currently helping with medical research this summer, Colburn said. Also, two of last year’s scholars who were interested in dental careers have applied for and received early admission to the College of Dentistry. They will start in the fall of 2008.

“What’s really great about programs like this is that people get to know you,” Colburn said. “With students coming here from all over the country, what you’re really showing is that UNMC isn’t just for Nebraska students.”

The 2007 SMDEP participants. (Photo by James Colburn)