Anonymous donors have made a $1 million gift to the new Minnesota’s Future Doctors program, a collaboration of the University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic medical schools.
The program aims to equip high-potential minority, rural, and economically disadvantaged students with the skills necessary to become successful undergraduate students, making them strong applicants for medical school.
Minnesota’s Future Doctors was developed in response to a concern that practicing physicians and medical students fail to reflect the diversity of Minnesota communities. Two University of Minnesota Medical School students noticed this disparity in their classrooms and initiated this program in response (see the cover story in the fall 2007 Medical Bulletin ).
The newest class, which has 27 students, will start the three-summer program in June. The Minnesota Future Doctors program has a school-year component as well, and when the program is at full capacity in 2009, it will serve 150 students.
“These fantastic young people are the types of student we want and need in our medical schools if we are to prepare physicians who can relate to the increasingly diverse population in our state,” says the University of Minnesota’s Jo Peterson, Ph.D., the program’s director.
“This generous $1 million gift will help us maintain the program’s momentum and continue to reach talented students across the state who might otherwise consider medical school beyond their reach,” Peterson says.
