The Office of Diversity and Inclusion sponsors pathway and pipeline programs that aim to diversify the future healthcare workforce and increase the number of underrepresented students enrolled at the Keck School of Medicine. Following a “cradle to career” model, our programs provide early exposure to science and medicine, and promote further exploration, cultivation, and preparation for careers in medicine.
Elementary School
Educación Primero
Educación Primero is an early education outreach program that exposes elementary school students to topics in health and science. Medical students meet monthly with 4th and 5th graders at Eastman Elementary School in East Los Angeles, planting seeds of interest in higher education and encouraging them to strive for excellence. Medical students present informative sessions about health matters that directly affect the communities where the participants live. The program culminates with “Graduation Day at Keck” for the elementary students. To volunteer and get involved, contact the Keck Latino Medical Student Association at usc.lmsa@gmail.com.
Tom Bradley Mini Medical School
Tom Bradley Mini Medical School is an outreach program that aims to expose elementary school students to medical and scientific information in an effort to stimulate their interest in medicine and higher education. Once a month, medical student volunteers visit the Tom Bradley Environmental Science and Humanities Charter Magnet School in South Los Angeles and provide 4th and 5th graders with an active and experiential science-based learning opportunity. The program culminates with “Graduation Day at Keck” for the elementary students. To volunteer and get involved, contact the Keck Student National Medical Association at snma.usc@gmail.com.
Middle School
Clinton Middle School Medical and Health Careers Outreach Program
The Clinton Middle School Medical and Health Careers Outreach program aims to cultivate junior high school students’ interest in medicine. Once a month, medical student volunteers visit Clinton Middle School in Historic South Central Los Angeles and provide 6th-8th graders with active and experiential lessons on human anatomy, physiology and body systems. This program is led by students in Keck’s LMSA and SNMA. To volunteer and get involved, contact LMSA at usc.lmsa@gmail.com or SNMA at snma.usc@gmail.com.
Hippocrates Circle Program
The Hippocrates Circle Program inspires youth from underrepresented communities and diverse backgrounds to pursue careers in medicine. This initiative is accomplished through the collaborative efforts of local school districts, medical schools, physicians from the Southern California Permanente Medical Group, and Kaiser Permanente sponsorship. Medical students serve as speakers, campus tour guides and conduct mini-medical workshops.
High School
Health Career Academy
Health Career Academy provides high school students a structured curriculum based on the drama series ER. Facilitated by medical students, the lessons aim to cultivate interest in medicine among high school students and to instill in them the desire to pursue careers as health professionals.
USC Med-COR Program
The Medical Counseling, Organizing, and Recruiting program (Med-COR) seeks to increase the pool of high school students of color committed to the pursuit of health professional careers. The program supports students from disadvantaged backgrounds and prepares them academically to be competitive for admission to colleges and universities nationwide. Through education and co-curricular experiences, Med-COR encourages and motivates students to commit themselves to careers in health. Med-COR has been serving the greater Los Angeles community for over 50 years, and has produced countless medical and health professionals. Visit the Med-COR website for ways to get involved.
Undergraduate
Bridging the Gaps
Bridging the Gaps Summer Research Program is a bench to bedside experience that provides an enriching educational research opportunity to outstanding undergraduate students who have been historically underrepresented as physicians (MD), physician scientists (MD/PhD), and biomedical scientists (PhD). BTG scholars conduct cutting edge research for 8 weeks in the laboratories of faculty at the Keck School of Medicine. Students are provided with basic science, translational and clinical research experiences. The summer session culminates with students presenting their research findings to the KSOM community at large.
Keck PREP Scholars
The Keck PREP Scholars program is a health career preparation program for select undergraduate students at USC. This longitudinal program employs a comprehensive approach to support the academic success and professional goals of pre-health students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds and communities historically underrepresented in medicine and healthcare. Founded on the four key principles of preparation, retention, education, and purpose, Keck PREP provides students with a personalized approach in preparing for careers in medicine and healthcare; cultivates an environment conducive to sustaining students on the pre-health track; offers academic support to encourage student success in pre-health education; and inspires students to find their role and purpose as future healthcare professionals. Visit the Keck PREP website for ways to get involved.
Summer Program in Diabetes and Obesity Research (SPIDOR)
SPIDOR is a 10-week NIH/NIDDK funded summer research experience providing outstanding underrepresented students in science and medicine an opportunity to gain meaningful exposure to the exceptional research and clinical programs at the Keck School of Medicine (KSOM) of USC. Summer scholars conduct cutting-edge research in the laboratories of faculty members from the USC Diabetes and Obesity Research Institute (DORI) and are exposed to basic science, translational, and clinical research experiences. The summer session culminates with students presenting their research findings to the KSOM community at large.