Dear Colleagues,
Earlier this month, I met with potential members of the next generation of physicians during our High School Mini Medical School program. Mini med school is a chance for high school students from across the state to get a preview of what medical school is like.
We hosted 113 high school juniors who took part in two separate week-long sessions. The program is a great pipeline for promising high schoolers interested in attending medical school. Though not as rigorous as an application to medical school, admission into mini med school is competitive, nonetheless. Accepted students were evaluated on academic effort and success, responses to essay questions on the application, recommendations from a high school teacher and their involvement in extracurricular activities.
Every year, several members of our graduating medical classes are alumni of mini med school. In fact, over the last three years we have had 21 students admitted to our medical school who were past participants.
From touring our hospitals and labs to learning more about the medical school application process, high school students from rural and urban areas of the state get a better idea of what goes into becoming a physician. Students take part in a medical school-style curriculum used at MU known as patient-based learning and then take those skills and work in small groups to solve a case study.
Not only do the participants get hands-on experience, but they also attend lectures from faculty in plastic surgery, emergency medicine, medical ethics and many more. It was great to be able to speak with the students during a lecture in our Patient-Centered Care Learning Center.
While we are offering high school students a glimpse into their potential future as medical students, in just a few short weeks we will officially be welcoming our incoming class of first-year medical students. On July 26 and 28, we are hosting our annual stethoscope breakfast and white coat ceremonies, respectively. These events mark the Class of 2027’s first official foray into the field of medicine. So, the exposure, onboarding and training of the next generation of health care professionals never ends.
Sincerely,
Richard Barohn, MD
Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs
University of Missouri
rbarohn@health.missouri.edu
