Pre-Health Professional Office leadership in right photo: Thabita Joseph (left), Pre-Health Academic Advisor; Gina Jones, Director of Pre-Health Professions Office; Latarsha Morgan, Assistant Director, Pre-Health Professions Office.

The Charles E. Schmidt College of Sciences’ Pre-Health Professions and Continuing Education leadership team recently attended the PATHS-First Look Immersion Program conference at the Yale School of Medicine (YSM) in New Haven, Connecticut. The program connects pre-medical and science students from minority-serving institutions and local colleges with advisors who can provide information about Yale’s M.D. and M.D./Ph.D. programs.

During the four-day conference, the team had the opportunity to meet faculty, staff and students, as well as learn what Yale is doing to bridge the gap for students who are underrepresented in the health sciences.

In recent years, YSM has created two pipeline programs, the First Look Immersion Program and the Program to Advance Training in Health and Science (PATHS), now combined, that support diversity, equity and inclusion for students who are considering careers in health and science. 

PATHS is a 10-month program that provides training, mentoring and other resources to undergraduate and postgraduate students across the country who self-identify as being underrepresented in science and medicine and are interested in obtaining an M.D., M.D./Ph.D. or biomedical Ph.D. degree. 

This April was the first time that program participants and educators could meet in-person after COVID-19 delays.

Gina Jones, Director of Pre-Health Professions advising and continuing education programs at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) — which has the largest representation of Hispanic students in Florida’s State University System — said she found the in-person gathering valuable to learn more about how YSM has included diversity in its pathway programs and overall mission. 

Jones said she now can tell FAU students, “You will feel welcome, you will feel like you belong. We learned that there is funding for support to make it affordable to attend.” Jones also found it encouraging to see that students will have the opportunity to work alongside faculty, students and administrators who care about their success. 

Jones oversees FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science’s Pre-Health Professions Office, which supports about 3,000 pre-health professions students, along with freshman advisors Latarsha Morgan and Thabita Joseph, who also attended the immersion program.

In 2017, YSM launched the Yale Summer Enrichment Medical Academy (YSEMA) and has since expanded the 6-week program to include several universities from around the country who typically serve Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic-Serving Institutions, such as FAU.

Students who aspire to have a future career in medicine will have the opportunity to participate in an intensive science curriculum designed to improve success in upper-division science courses required for pre-med students.

This summer, Dodlee Mosilme (pictured left), a first-year Biological Sciences student, will be the first FAU participant to join the 2022 YSEMA program from June 11 to July 23.
 
“I am eager to participate in the Yale Medical Academy this summer, and I look forward to connecting with doctors and medical students from Yale,” said Mosilme. “I hope to learn more about how I can best prepare myself to be an exceptional medical school applicant and student. Ultimately, I know this program will not only positively impact me, but my future patients as well.”

Senior Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Evonne Rezler, Ph.D., remarks, “Florida Atlantic is home to exceptional students on the pre-health track that will greatly benefit from this relationship with the Yale School of Medicine. One of our key strengths in the college is our diversity, and YSM’s focus on diversity, equity and inclusion closely align with our mission. We’re delighted to host the YSM team at FAU during their upcoming visit, and work on building a pipeline for our students to their programs.”

Later this fall, Yale faculty plan to visit FAU and speak to pre-health track students about YSM, as well as the various programs they host during the summer and school year.

FAU received federal designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution by the United States Department of Education in 2017.