University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
| By Rachel Miller, UNM School of Medicine |
Sometimes future health professionals who can help the state the most are students who had never considered or been encouraged to investigate health careers.
Too often in the past, a lack of role models meant that students from underserved and/or rural areas never thought about medical and health careers. For minority students, this problem is magnified. Reaching out to those students is one of the primary goals of the newly created Office of Diversity, formerly the Office of Cultural and Ethnic Programs. The expanded program is headed by Valerie Romero-Leggott, MD, who recently became the School of Medicine’s first associate dean of diversity.
“The idea is to not only attract students into the health professions, but to assist them in continuing their education and support them throughout their educational and professional careers,” said Romero-Leggott.
The Office of Diversity was created to promote careers in the health sciences, primarily among people from historically underrepresented, disadvantaged, and/or medically underserved populations in New Mexico. The program uses its partnerships with other community organizations to create pipeline programs for middle, high school, and college students considering health-related professions; offers forums for discussing issues concerning historically underrepresented and disadvantaged populations; provides support systems to enhance students’ academic performance; and promotes awareness of health disparities and cultural and workforce diversity.
Community partnerships are an important component of this unique educational program. Under Romero-Leggott’s guidance, the Office of Diversity has partnered with organizations such as Albuquerque Public Schools, First Choice Community Health Care, Engaging Latino Communities for Education (ENLACE), and New Mexico Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement (NMMESA), to name just a few. Other departments within the university have also been involved, including the Colleges of Pharmacy and Nursing, the Center for Native American Health, and the School of Law. The Office of Diversity offers a wide range of educational opportunities for potential students, beginning in middle school and extending through the post-baccalaureate experience. The programs range from special speakers talking to students about careers, to shadowing opportunities and educational events. These Health Careers Opportunity Programs include:
Other resources – from peer tutoring to loans of laptop computers – are also available to students through the Office of Diversity.
“We are proud that our institution has been singled out as one of the top three schools for the education of Hispanic medical students,” said Paul Roth, MD, Executive Vice President for Health Sciences and Dean of the UNM School of Medicine. “We know as a minority/majority state, the unique health care needs of our multicultural and multilingual residents must be a priority in our training of physicians.”
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