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UA pre-med summer program preps students for medical careers

A new summer pre-med program at the University of Arizona College of Medicine aims to give underserved students a jump start on their careers.

Eight students recently completed the pilot program of the Arizona Maximizing Medical Education Potential (AZ MMEP) in Tucson.

This history-making group includes: Laticia Michelli Murphy, of Phoenix; Lana Littleman, Mesa; Mary Garcia, Robert Gonzalez and Chris Vu, Tucson; Jennifer Stanley, Kayenta; Vera Stalker, Flagstaff; and Evander Yazzie, Gallup, New Mexico.

Through independent e-mail and Web-based assignments, and two intensive three-day weekend workshops on campus, this innovative workshop is designed to improve students’ skills so they are prepared for medical school, job interviews and any entry process needed for a career in a medical-related field.

"Participants develop a personal plan for achieving educational success," says Linda Don, director of the office of minority affairs for the university.

"They also prepare for the MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test), improve their verbal and written skills and expand their understanding of cultural competence in health care and the new national standard for medical education."

In previous years, the university hosted a national summer medical education program. After that program was discontinued, AZ MMEP was developed.

Students who are early in their college careers or in a career change are ideal, says program assistant Rene Lozano. The AZ MMEP is geared toward students who are the first in their immediate family to attend college or the first in their extended family to pursue a career in medicine; a member of an underrepresented ethnic minority group; from a community that lacks medical services; or those who are economically disadvantaged.

The program’s non-traditional format that relies mostly on independent study makes it beneficial for non-traditional students, like single parents or those who work full time.

This summer participants went on a field trip to visit medical facilities in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. Here, they saw how much of the world receives health care and treatment and compared it to hospitals and clinics in the United States.

Lozano said the plan is for the program to expand to as many as 15 students. Because many AZ MMEP participants would come from economically disadvantaged or rural areas where quality medical care is difficult to come by, the hope is that once they complete their education, students would return to their hometowns or head to a region that is similar to where they were raised.

"We want them to serve as role models for other students and kids in these areas," Lozano says.

"Then they can say, ‘If they did it, we can do it, too.’ "