"Minnesota's Future Doctors" on Duluth Campus

June 25, 2007  Twenty-three college students enrolled in Minnesota's Future Doctors program were on the University of Minnesota Medical School’s Duluth Campus today.   The students have successfully completed their first year at a college or university and are interested in becoming doctors, serving Minnesota's diverse urban and rural communities.   91 diverse Minnesotans applied for the positions. The admissions committee selected 23 college freshmen on March 1, 2007. The first cohort, and future cohorts, will spend three summers (and portions of their academic years) with the program.

On the Duluth Campus the students participated in a full day of activities, including: admissions information; learning stations on intubation, histology and paleopathology; health disparities in rural Minnesota; the Center of American Indian and Minority Health; tours of the medical school and discussions with current medical students.  

Pictured:  Steve Downing, Ph.D. (right) works with Future Doctors participants on HistoTime, Downing’s computer-based histology program

Inspired by two medical students, “Minnesota’s Future Doctors” is a new program which recruits and prepares highly talented, committed, and hardworking minority, immigrant, rural, and economically disadvantaged students for careers within the Minnesota medical community.  The program was conceived in 2005 by two medical students at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Gareth Forde and Matthew Fitzpatrick who realized their classmates did not reflect the diversity of Minnesota. The University of Minnesota Medical School and the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine support the project.  Minnesota’s Future Doctors launched in November 2006 with Jo Peterson as its director.

During the six-week immersion program, the students learn about medical school, participate in college enrichment coursework, volunteer and develop health-related service projects, and interact with minority physicians and communities of color. They meet new friends, encounter mentors, and use electronic portfolios to reflect and record what happens during a very rich program. Housing, meals and stipends are provided to Minnesota's Future Doctors. After that first summer, they will have the opportunity to spend two more summers preparing for medical school.

More News about the University of Minnesota Medical School – Duluth Campus