The Pathways to Medicine Scholars program is open to all students with a specific emphasis on reaching out to and providing a unique opportunity to support Dartmouth pre-health students from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine (URiM), to succeed in their aspirations. Supporting student growth by providing experiential opportunities to see medicine in action, meet inspiring mentors, and reflect in community, have had powerful effects on student motivation, confidence, and success.
Pathways scholars will take a trip “Off the Green” and be exposed to model health care centers, public health perspectives, inspiring leaders, and alumni mentors to learn directly from professionals how alternative and creative health care facilities and innovations function to provide critical care to the most vulnerable in our society. There will also be regular opportunities (including reading, discussion and group facilitation, special guests) through the year for intellectual exploration of health care delivery, with a strong focus on healthcare disparities; leadership building; reflection on ethics, professionalism, self-reflection, and the growth of compassion, humanity and wisdom.
One goal for this project is to allow students to build individual goals for the program in order to strengthen the commitment within the Dartmouth community to produce advocates for social justice in healthcare.
The programming and trips will:
• Foster greater understanding of the social aspects of health, illness and healthcare through direct clinical and community experience.
• Foster creativity through observation and engagement with health professionals who work effectively to improve health delivery on small and large scales and in diverse ways.
• Motivate students to think critically by observing the different ways healthcare providers have and continue to create solutions to improve healthcare provided to underserved and vulnerable communities.
• Send socially consciousness undergraduates into healthcare careers motivated to become advocates for change
• Provide an interdisciplinary approach in which we can involve faculty in Biology, Sociology, Psychology, Anthropology, Creative Writing, Geisel, and TDI—among others.