O2028: Initiating the Health Career Collaborative Program at an Underserved Urban High School: A Collaboration Between Medical Students and High School Science Teachers

Background: The aim was to examine the feasibility of implementing a medical student-led pathway to health careers program for high school students from communities underrepresented in health careers. Utilizing the Health Career Collaborative (HCC), an existing national program designed to provide cost effective curriculum to improve health literacy, increase academic achievement, and increase representation in health careers through mentorship of high school students over three years. This work is needed because 1) underserved schools often do not have resources to provide health related educational opportunities; 2) increasing minority representation in medical careers is critical; and 3) medical education must address both primary care shortages and increasing diversity and inclusion.

Methods: In Fall 2020, medical school faculty from Student Affairs and Outreach met with leadership from HCC to learn about the program requirements. Faculty then identified a local high school serving youth from a low-income and underrepresented minority community and recruited second-year medical student leaders through an interest form and informational session. Medical student leaders then 1) established contact with high school principal and science dean; 2) determined the HCC program would be provided to 10th grade chemistry students under the supervision of a certified teacher; 3) determined the dates and times for the program to take place in Spring 2021; and 4) recruited additional medical students to participate as instructors and mentors. Curriculum was accessed from the HCC website, and case-based lesson plans were aligned to chemistry state standards and developed in the following fixed format: Introduction to Lesson Objectives and Warm Up, Large Group Didactic, Small Group Discussion, hands-on skills activity, and informal oral presentation.

Results: Fourteen medical students and 30 10th graders were divided into five small learning groups. In the “kickoff” lesson, 10th graders were given a preview of the year and met with their year-long medical student mentors. Eleven case-based 90-minute lessons were given biweekly from September to February that included interactions with medical professionals and hands-on learning such as auscultation, assessing reflexes, and administering an Epi-Pen. Additionally, high school students selected health topics that interested them and, with guidance from medical student mentors, created presentations on those topics. The program culminated in student-led “Scholarly Presentations” that included topics such as hypertension, ovarian cancer, sports injuries, schizophrenia, and smoking. All participants agree this 10th grade cohort will next matriculate into the 11th and 12th grade HCC program. In the future, the program intends to include a college admissions session, incorporate broader representation of health career professionals, and have students partake in field trips.

Conclusion: This investigation demonstrated the feasibility of initiating a medical school-high school partnership program and implementing a health curriculum that can be added to a science high school class without interrupting state-mandated curriculum.