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Program Offers Research Opportunities to Local High School Students

Participants in the OHEP Scholars Program and the Minority High School Science Education Program spent time in laboratories exploring careers in science and medicine.

Regardless of the years that may have passed, most people have vivid memories of their first summer jobs. For the millions of American high school kids who enter the workforce each year – for a few months anyway – such jobs continue today to be a rite of passage. These jobs teach them things about life they couldn’t possibly learn in the classroom and help prepare them for their eventual careers.

The School of Medicine participated in the OHEP Scholars Program and the Minority High School Science Education Program, which allowed 32 local high school students to enter this fall better prepared for careers in science and medicine.

The OHEP Scholars Program offered 21 Detroit Public Schools students the opportunity to spend their summer gaining valuable insight into medical professions. The program, sponsored by OHEP, a consortium of local hospitals, in cooperation with Detroit Public Schools and the School of Medicine, allowed students to work full-time throughout the summer at area hospitals.

Students received a stipend made possible by a grant from member institutions of the OHEP Center for Medical Education. OHEP is a consortium of Detroitarea hospitals – including the Detroit Medical Center, St. John Health System and Henry Ford Hospital – that work together with the School of Medicine to facilitate medical education.

“This was truly a collaborative effort,” said Charles Whitten, MD, WSU associate dean emeritus for special programs. “Everyone involved understood the importance of providing these kids with an experience that will serve them well should they choose to pursue careers in medicine.”

While the OHEP Scholars Program taught students about life in the hospital, Wayne State University’s Minority High School Science Education Program allowed students to learn about an equally important part of the medical field: life in the laboratory.

Made possible by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, the high school science program was designed to increase the number of minority students from Detroit and surrounding areas who enter college and pursue degrees in science disciplines. To this end, students spent their summer working in a research laboratory under the supervision of WSU faculty mentors in order to gain experience and research based training.

In addition to their work with faculty mentors, program participants also interacted with WSU undergraduate students, graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, taking part in a number of scienceeducation enrichment activities.

While he made the NIH grant possible and serves as primary investigator on the project, Joseph Dunbar, PhD, WSU chair of physiology, believes that these types of programs are truly team efforts.

“These students spent the majority of their time in our faculty labs,” Dr. Dunbar said. “It’s their generosity and support for minority education that makes this kind of program possible.”

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Continuing Medical Education

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