In the March 10 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Marilyn Winkleby encourages her higher-education colleagues to develop “pipeline” programs that funnel interested high school students into the fields of science and medicine. Winkleby, PhD, is a professor of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center and the faculty director of the Stanford Medical Youth Science Program.

The Stanford Medical Youth Science Program seeks to prepare high school students from low-income and under-represented backgrounds to enter college, graduate and/or medical school and, eventually, health care-related fields. With this goal in mind, SMYSP provides resources, guidance and long-term mentoring to these students. This guidance includes intense science and math coursework, introduction to a host of medical and science-related careers, college counseling and financial aid advice. SMYSP also assists parents, teachers, counselors and mentors by offering them educational resources and training.

SMYSP achieves its goals through a number of initiatives including:

The Summer Program, which allows selected students to live on Stanford campus for an annual five-week academic enrichment program.

The CHOICE Program exposes students to science and medicine through weekend workshops while urging them to apply to college and assisting them with career workshops and individualized counseling.

The MKITS Program reaches into underserved high school classrooms to deliver rich science curricula and to provide training for teachers and counselors.

SMYSP believes that helping low-income and ethnically diverse students reach their own educational goals is ultimately the most effective way to help improve the health care services available to underserved and low-income communities. Learn more about how you can help SMYSP reach its goals. http://smysp.stanford.edu/