UAMS’ postgrad program welcomes 15 participants

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has welcomed 15 students to the inaugural class of its post-baccalaureate pre-med program, Medical Scholars in Public Health.

Participants include University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff graduates Nidal Shah, Xavius Hymes, Kayla Jimmerson and Samuel Edogun, according to a news release.

Other students are Austin Anderson, Michael Bunyard, Florenz Cruz-Artiga, Madison Hershberger, Savannah Hickman, Tierra Holland, Maria Meneses-Ramos, Xochitl Shields, Stefany Sierra, Alexandria Smith and Savannah Stacks.

The Medical Scholars in Public Health program is a collaboration between the UAMS colleges of Medicine, Public Health and Pharmacy. The 15 students, who began classes May 24, were chosen from more than 40 applicants.

They come from Little Rock, El Dorado, Conway, Pine Bluff, Fort Smith, Rogers, Mountain Home, Damascus and DeQueen, with one originally from El Salvador and another originally from Guatemala, the release read.

“We’re cultivating home-grown talent with the aim of increasing the medical talent that remains here and gives back to the state,” said Jerrilyn Jones, M.D., an associate professor in the College of Medicine’s Department of Emergency Medicine and the director of the new program.

The program is intended to serve as an educational bridge to a master’s degree in public health and/or a medical degree for Arkansas residents from socially, economically or geographically disadvantaged backgrounds and who have faced challenges in the medical school admissions process, according to the release.

All of the students will work toward a master’s degree in public health. After the first year, those who have a medical college admission test score of at least 505 and a grade point average of at least 3.5 will receive fast-track admission to medical school.

The others also can apply to medical school, with all who are accepted agreeing to complete the master’s degree while attending medical school. Those who didn’t get accepted into medical school will continue working toward a degree for a second year, with the option to reapply to the College of Medicine.

The master’s degree doesn’t require a thesis but does require the completion of 42 credit hours and a capstone research project consisting of an applied practice and integrated learning experience project.

Committee members reviewed not only the students’ academic credentials but qualities like “grit, compassion and an ability to pivot” that will help them to become first-rate doctors, said Dr. Sara Tariq, associate dean for student affairs in the College of Medicine and chair of the program’s planning committee.

Five of this year’s students went through the historically Black colleges and universities MedTrack program last year. The MedTrack program is a partnership between UAMS, UAPB and Philander Smith College, which are historically Black institutions.

The partnership is aimed at helping more minority students enter the medical field. It provides a combination of mentoring, tutoring and assistance navigating the application process for medical school and other health care opportunities.

Both the MedTrack and new Medical Scholars in Public Health programs are supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as part of an award totaling $7 million with 10% financed with nongovernmental sources. UAMS Regional Programs oversees these initiatives.

Both programs are part of UAMS’ multifaceted approach to increase the number of underrepresented minorities, rural and disadvantaged students entering the state’s health care workforce.