O3262: Future MEDIC: After-school Health Care Programming for Underserved Youth

Background: There is a significant need for increased representation in healthcare professions to provide the best possible care to our diverse patient populations. Studies show that practitioners who come from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds are more likely to work in underserved communities. However, research suggests that, without early intervention, underrepresented students may lose interest in science and math by their teens and discount their abilities in those subjects before finishing high school. Our goal was to design, implement, and evaluate the Future Medical Education and Development Introductory Course (MEDIC), a student-led after-school program that offers a collaborative, interactive approach to health care with a focus on interprofessional education for elementary and middle school students.

Methods: Future MEDIC is a student-led after-school program designed to inspire primary school students by sharing our passion for learning, health, and careers in medicine. Through hands-on activities such as clinical interviewing and physical examination workshops, group role-playing, and interactive demonstrations with the SimMan patient simulator, students are empowered to actively explore the world of health care. Started by University of Pittsburgh medical students, Future MEDIC was first implemented in 2021 at University Preparatory School (6-12 grade), in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. Designed in partnership with the local Hill District Community Engagement Center, our program was tailored to the specific interests of our students, with added flexibility for different age groups.

Results: This program enrolled over 30 students for four weekly hour-long sessions. The overwhelmingly positive student and parent feedback demonstrate that passionate student leadership, interdisciplinary collaboration, and highly engaging activities can help overcome barriers to stimulating interest in the healthcare field among students in underserved communities. Future directions include a program evaluation using surveys and written feedback to assess student learning and engagement.

Conclusion: Our model provides a framework for other medical schools to provide interactive student-led after-school programs that inspire youth in medically underserved communities to learn about healthcare careers.