Inspiration through exposure
Addressing health equity through better representation will not happen solely by increasing opportunities through undergraduate or graduate medical education. The path to a career in health care must be made visible at a much earlier stage in life. If you ask any physician today what inspired them to embark on this professional journey, you’ll probably hear about a parent, a relative, or a close family friend who provided the model. They’ll tell you how they saw the drive and dedication, as well as the satisfaction, that made medicine an attractive option for their own career. But for students who are underrepresented in medicine, this model may never be present. Their family and social system may be focused primarily on the necessities of survival. They may complete elementary, middle, and high school without envisioning a college education, let alone a medical degree.
Pathway Programs, integrated to the school and community settings where these young people live, can provide students with this exposure from elementary all the way through to post-baccalaureate education. These programs can be after-school enrichment that exposes students to STEM subjects, or they can be intensive academies that close gaps in college readiness. They might be offered in conjunction with neighborhood health clinics, or recreational outlets. But in every setting, they raise awareness of what can be for these learners. They foster mentorship and reveal potential. They emphasize to these students that their community needs them, that there are doctors who look like them, and they help widen the path that leads to a healthier community.
With a deep tradition of successful Pathway Programs in the greater Atlanta region, Morehouse School of Medicine brings rich experience in tailoring experiences to community needs, as well as in partnering with public and private supporters to maximize their reach. In partnership with CommonSpirit Health through the More in Common Alliance, this expertise is now being leveraged to cultivate programs nationwide in geographic alignment with undergraduate clinical training sites and graduate medical education programs.
But creating this distributed pipeline is not a one-size-fits-all prescription of installing packaged programs into receptive sites. Instead, it is a highly collaborative process of listening, analyzing, and understanding the needs and resources of each community so that the resulting support is not only welcomed, but considered essential, by local institutions and leaders. Existing programs are supported, strengthened, and connected to the broader framework to share best practices and outcomes on a national scale. Recognizing this approach, the Association of American Medical Colleges is in communication with medical schools to develop a repository of Pathway Programs that allows new programs to benefit from the experience of established ones.
Through this collaborative process, every community in which a CommonSpirit Health facility is the site for undergraduate or graduate medical education will also be home to an array of such Pathway Programs. Its elementary and middle school students will learn about life science and community health. Its high school students will learn about health careers and what educational steps are needed to reach them. And its pre-med undergraduate applicants and students will have access to academic and other support needed for college success. All of whom will be watched, encouraged, and mentored along the way by Morehouse School of Medicine and its student role models.
Established and emerging Pathway Programs
Through the Morehouse School of Medicine
Since 1981, the Morehouse School of Medicine has steadily developed an impressive range of programs that provide exposure and support in the STEM and health professions arena to students from pre-K to medical school levels.
Spotlight: the Marvin Williams Recreation Center
Founded from the vision of the late Bishop Robertson, and led today by his widow, board-certified obstetrician gynecologist Lillian Lockett Robertson, MD, the Marvin Williams Recreation Center is a 20,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility in Bremerton, Washington.
How you can become involved
The community-centric approach taken by the More in Common Alliance toward Pathway Programs development calls for many kinds of support. Program coordinators and outreach specialists from regional nonprofits, school districts, social service organizations, and community foundations can all play a role in identifying and supporting viable opportunities.
Financial support is critical too. In addition to physical facilities, staffing, and curriculum, funding can take the form of scholarships that provide supporters with a direct link to the work being done to build a more representative health care system. This is especially true for programs targeting learners at the college and graduate level, who may already be grappling with the reality of student debt on top of academic hurdles.
Contact our community outreach department to find out about needs in a subject or geographic area that’s meaningful to you.
Zakari Murphy, PhD — proving the power of pathway programs
“My confidence, being sure of myself, and knowing there weren't too many obstacles that I couldn't overcome if I put my mind to it — these wouldn't have happened without MSMS.”
Find out more about
- Enrollment at Morehouse School of Medicine
- Residency expansion at CommonSpirit Health facilities
- Regional training sites at CommonSpirit Health facilities
- Health equity and representation
- Staying informed about these issues
- Making a gift to support the More in Common Alliance