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Applications Now Being Taken for High Schoolers to Attend UA College of Medicine – Phoenix’s Med-Start Program
Teens Get an Early Taste of Health Professions at Summer Program
High school students interested in the health sciences are invited to apply to the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix Med-Start summer program.
The Office of Admissions and Recruitment at the College is proud to expand the program based on many years of success; the Phoenix Med-Start experience began in 2004. The 11th-annual program is designed to encourage and inspire teen-agers to explore their interest in the health professions and is open to students currently in ninth, 10th, 11th and 12thgrades. Each of the three Med-Start Phoenix summer sessions include hands-on activities, field trips, community service projects, simulation and related lab experiences, culminating projects and lectures from medical students, faculty and community members.
Each two-week session will highlight healthcare themes: scientific research, health-care needs and the health-care team.
“Our goal with the program expansion is to broaden our reach into the community and we will accomplish this by hosting nearly 100 students over the summer months,” said Tara Cunningham, EdD, assistant dean for admissions and recruitment for the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix.
You can learn more by visiting phoenixmed.arizona.edu/medstart. Applications are due March 3.
Under the revamped program, students in their first two years of high school who are interested in learning more about health care will be introduced to the health-care team, exploring the many occupations by learning from physicians, physician assistants, nurses and other in the health-care community.
High School juniors and seniors will have two options for Med-Start – one exploring scientific research and its importance in health care and the other in health-care delivery, including rural health, public health and primary care specialties.
The Med-Start Phoenix program is partially funded by grants from Phoenix Suns Charities, American Latin-American Medical Association, and Greater Valley Area Health Education Center.
Several thousand students have participated in Med-Start since 1969 when it was developed on the UA College of Medicine’s Tucson campus to improve health care in rural and economically disadvantaged areas and to increase the number of underrepresented health-care professionals in Arizona. An additional group of high school students will attend the Med-Start residential program on the UA campus in Tucson.
Med-Start began as an initiative under UA College of Medicine Founding Dean Merlin K. “Monte” DuVal, MD. The late Dr. DuVal probably is best remembered for his role in shaping the fledgling College, providing support for numerous programs and initiatives that have contributed to recognition of the College as one of the top medical schools in the West. Generous gifts from family and friends established The Merlin K. “Monte” DuVal Memorial Med-Start Endowment, which pays tribute to the founding dean while supporting this vital program.
In 1969, just after the College opened its doors to its first class of medical students, Dr. DuVal helped establish the Med-Start program, lending his support to a group of idealistic and innovative minority medical students who championed the cause. These students included three who later completed their medical degrees at the UA.
