National minority health leader Roderick King, MD, MPH, chair of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health’s Advisory Committee on Minority Health (at right), will headline the annual Health Equity Scholars Program (HESP) seminar at UMass Medical School on Tuesday, Aug. 12. UMass Boston undergraduates who are members of the scholars program from the current and previous two years will attend the full-day seminar, culminating with a grand rounds talk planned for medical students and the scholars, and open to all UMMS faculty and staff.
The HESP is a project of UMass Center for Health Equity Intervention Research to train, support and mentor students interested in health disparities. A collaborative partnership between UMass Medical School and UMass Boston, the center is funded by National Institutes of Health and National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities. The program is coordinated at UMass Boston by Academic Support Services and the Honors College, with representatives of the Gaston Institute, the Trotter Institute, the Institute for Asian American Studies and the Institute for New England Native American Studies
“The Health Equity Scholars Program day was designed to provide a variety of experiences including the opportunity to hear about other students’ research, to learn about the need for and importance of more health equity research, and to further explore their own career development,” said Carole Upshur, EdD, professor of family medicine & community health, who is the principal investigator for the center’s Education & Training Core and developed the HESP.
The daylong itinerary will include a career development workshop led by Deborah Plummer, PhD, vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion; a discussion of careers in health care and health equity research; poster presentations of a newly launched HESP summer internship research projects with UMB faculty; and an introduction to exploring opportunities for pre-and post-graduate study at UMass Chan’s School of Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Graduate School of Nursing.
Dr. King will conclude the Health Equity Scholars seminar day with a special grand rounds targeted to first-year medical students and the UMB undergraduates. All members of the UMMS community are invited to attend the talk: The New Physician: A Change Agent for Population Health. Sponsored by the UMass Center for Health Equity Intervention Research, the UMMS Diversity and Equal Opportunity Office and the Department of Quantitative health Sciences, the grand rounds will take place in the Hiatt Auditorium from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m.
“We’ve designed the program to give students valuable exposure to the opportunities for education, research and career development available to them when they complete their studies at UMass Boston,” said Jeroan Allison, MD, MS, vice chair and professor of quantitative health sciences and co-director of CHEIR.
“We are honored that Dr. King, who is a role model for reducing health disparities, will be with us for the entire seminar,” said Milagros Rosal, PhD, professor of medicine and CHEIR co-director with Dr. Allison. “Dr. King has been a leader in training and collaborative leadership to improve the health of underserved communities nationally and internationally.”
The Medical School visit is a key component of the HESP curriculum for UMass Boston undergraduates from backgrounds underrepresented in the health professions who are interested in health care careers with a focus on reducing health disparities.
“Past Health Equity Scholars report that their Medical School experience inspired them toward pursuing professions in which
