Rx for Success offers an education in applying to medical school

More than 200 college students from underrepresented groups throughout New York State received a leg up in preparing for careers in medicine at the “Rx for Success: Preparing for Medical School” program held recently at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB.

The students took part in a variety of activities, among them information sessions on the medical school admissions process, including the MCAT medical school entrance exam and the interview process; workshops where they learned about the clinical practice of medicine and interviewing skills, as well as how to suture using pigs’ feet and perform lab work.

The students also observed a sports medicine lab and toured the Jacobs School and its Behling Simulation Center.

In addition, the students met with current Jacobs School students, who talked about their experiences applying to and attending medical school.

The free program is sponsored by UB’s Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP) and by the Jacobs School’s chapter of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA), which supports current and future underrepresented minority medical students.

According to data from the SUNY Albany Center for Health Workforce Studies, even in a diverse state like New York, where African-Americans and Hispanics/Latinos comprise more than 30 percent of the population, they make up only 12 percent of the physician workforce.

“Rx for Success is a pipeline workshop designed to assist talented underrepresented students by providing them with essential, firsthand information from medical students, faculty and physicians who share strategies on becoming competitive applicants to medical school,” explains Shanna Crump-Owens, CSTEP director.