MINNEAPOLIS/ROCHESTER, Minn. (Feb. 28, 2008) -- Minnesota’s Future Doctors program, a collaboration between the University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic medical schools, has received an anonymous donation of $1 million to support its highly qualified and under-resourced students who want to become tomorrow’s doctors.
The gift—$500,000 each to the Minnesota Medical Foundation and to Mayo Clinic—demonstrates the generosity and vision of its anonymous benefactors, who believe in education and its ability to transform the future. Their gift supports and encourages the success of an innovative new program known as Minnesota’s Future Doctors.
Minnesota’s Future Doctors was developed in response to a concern that practicing physicians and medical school students do not reflect the diversity of Minnesota communities. Two University of Minnesota Medical School students noticed this disparity in their classrooms and initiated the Minnesota’s Future Doctors program to address this inequality. The goal of the program is to equip high-potential minority, rural, and economically under-resourced students with the skills necessary to become successful undergraduate students, in turn making them strong applicants for medical school. When the program is at full capacity in 2009, it will serve 150 students.
“These fantastic young people are the whole package, the type of student we want and need in our medical schools if we are to prepare the next generation of physicians who can relate to the increasingly diverse population in our state,” said Jo Peterson, Ph.D., University of Minnesota, director of the program.
“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.”
The first class of Minnesota’s Future Doctors began its three-summer program last summer by spending six at the University of Minnesota Medical School; University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview; and, Mayo Clinic learning about clinical care and research. Program participants created electronic portfolios, took biology and chemistry courses, and learned what it means to serve different ethnic populations by shadowing community-based, University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic physicians.
This first cohort will return to the program over the next two summers, first at the Mayo Clinic campus and then at the University campus. They will further develop their portfolios, prepare for the Medical College Admission Test, and refine their medical school applications and interview techniques. The program’s goal is not only to prepare exceptional medical school applicants, but ultimately to encourage these students to remain in the state as practicing medical professionals.
“Our measure of success is a simple one—we want the students in Minnesota’s Future Doctors to be competitive applicants for medical school,” explained Barbara Porter, administrator, Mayo Medical School. “Ideally, we want them to compete favorably for appointments to Mayo Medical School or the University of Minnesota Medical School. They are outstanding young people and with the various components of the program, their chances for success are excellent.”
The students represent minority, rural, and immigrant groups, as well as economically disadvantaged and first-generation college students. Studies of health care consumers find that persons of color and immigrants prefer doctors who share their language, culture, and religion. Peterson notes that the students’ personal experiences will allow them to relate to patients of similar backgrounds and be role models in their communities.
Wanda Vue is one of 23 students in the inaugural class. The only girl in her Hmong family of six children, she became interested in medicine in ninth grade, when she started accompanying her dad to the doctor for his diabetes treatment. She is grateful for the Minnesota’s Future Doctors Program because “it provides me with a straight path instead of me having to zigzag my way to goals.”
To learn more about supporting Minnesota’s Future Doctors, contact Cindy Adams Ellis at the Minnesota Medical Foundation, 612-625-5976, or cae@mmf.umn.edu, and Kim Spear at the Mayo Clinic, 507-538-0488 or spear.kimberley@mayo.edu.
Program highlights are available at http://www.meded.umn.edu/futuredocs/overview.php.
About the University of Minnesota Medical School
Dedicated to excellence, diversity and service, the University of Minnesota Medical School educates the next generation of physicians, advances patient care, and discovers breakthroughs in biomedical research that enhance health in Minnesota and beyond. Its commitment to transform medical education, Rural Physician Associate Program, and success in training Native American physicians are well-known. More than 1,500 Medical School physicians and scientists provide world-class care and carry out nearly $200 million in research, which informs the treatments and care that patients receive. For more information, go to www.med.umn.edu.
About Mayo Clinic and Mayo Medical School
Mayo Clinic is the first and largest integrated, not-for-profit group practice in the world. Doctors from every medical specialty work together to care for patients, joined by common systems and a philosophy of "the needs of the patient come first.” More than 3,300 physicians, scientists and researchers and 46,000 allied health staff work at Mayo Clinic, which has sites in Rochester, Minn., Jacksonville, Fla., and Scottsdale/Phoenix, Ariz. Collectively, the three locations treat more than half a million people each year. Mayo Medical School uses the patient-centered focus and strengths of Mayo Clinic to educate physicians to serve society by assuming leadership roles in medical practice, education and research.
About the Minnesota Medical Foundation
Founded in 1939, the Minnesota Medical Foundation raises millions of dollars annually for health-related education, research, and service at the University of Minnesota, with gifts supporting academic programs, research, faculty positions, scholarships, facilities and equipment purchases. Gifts directed to research fund studies related to public health, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, infectious diseases and other critical illnesses. For more information about the foundation, please call 612-625-1440 or visit www.mmf.umn.edu.
Contact: Molly Portz, University of Minnesota, 612-625-2640
Lee Aase, Mayo Clinic, 507-284-5005
Meredith McNab, Minnesota Medical Foundation, 612-625-0657