Twenty high school students were selected from a pool of 75 applicants to participate in the free, weeklong Mini-Med School program at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (Katz) this past July. Launched in 2019, the program aims to expose Philadelphia high school students, particularly those from underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds to a variety of medical professions.
Priority is given to students from neighborhoods surrounding the North Philadelphia medical school, according to Dr. Abiona Berkeley, MD, JD, Senior Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Katz. “We look for grit and determination,” Dr. Berkeley explains, “students who may not be the stereotypical ‘A’ student but have distinguished themselves in other significant ways.”
The Association of American Medical Colleges projects that the United States will face a shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036. Katz has viewed this as an opportunity to diversify medicine, and it’s been working toward that end, in part, by focusing on middle and high school students in the local community.
In one instance, faculty and students from the school, along with residents from Temple Health, visited a nearby middle school as part of a Health Careers Exploration Day. They showed students how to operate a point-of-care ultrasound device and extract DNA from a strawberry.
According to Dr. Berkeley, one of the physicians who participated in these demonstrations was inspired to become a physician purely because of a similar experience she had when she was that age. Until then, she assumed a career in medicine was “inaccessible” to her.
Through these interactions and the Mini-Med School program, Dr. Berkeley says, Temple is working to dispel the prevalent notion that students in North Philadelphia don’t have what it takes to pursue a career in medicine.
Students’ Pathways and Inspirations
Sierra Richardson applied to the Lewis Katz School of Medicine mini-med school program because she loves science and is considering pursuing a career in healthcare. In fact, Richardson, a rising senior at the Esperanza Cyber Charter School, is on pace to earn an associate of science degree in health sciences from the Esperanza College of Eastern University next spring.
She likes the idea of helping people and, more specifically, advocating for family members and other minorities.
“I don’t want people to go to the hospital and feel like they were just stepped on,” Richardson says. “That’s something I really want to change. I want to help bring equality to healthcare.”
When a guidance counselor at the Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School told Kayla Goodwin, a rising senior there, about the program, she eagerly applied. But her intent was less straightforward than Richardson’s.
Goodwin has had many interests over the years. At various points, she’s wanted to be a lawyer, a pilot, and an artist. But the very first thing she wanted to be was a pediatrician, and she’s found herself gravitating to that idea again as she begins to plot a path after high school. So the mini-med school program was a chance for her to test the waters.
Goodwin says that listening to a student panel share their experiences on the first day of the mini-med school program helped demystify medical school for her. With a clearer understanding of what lies ahead, she’s coming around to the idea of being a student then resident for several years.
“I used to think it was intimidating,” Goodwin says. “But now I’m like, If I really want to go for it, I can go for it.”
As the week progressed, Richardson was confident she was on the right track, but she was reconsidering her destination. “It really opened my mind to other career paths,” she says. “My original plan was to go into oncology, but after today’s research lab, I decided I wanted to go into biomedicine instead because I thought about how cool the experiments were and how hands-on everything was.”
Demonstrations and interactions
Students received training in adult and infant CPR and the Heimlich maneuver by Lynne Marie Flynn, Education Coordinator at Temple University Hospital – Main Campus. The students paired up and took turns practicing compressions on dummies, then administering an automated external defibrillator.
After completing the roughly hourlong course, the students earned their Basic Life Support certification, which, Dr. Berkeley says, is “really valuable to them. With that certification, they can give something back to their community and possibly save a life.”
Meeting people, including potential mentors, is a big part of the week’s experience. The itinerary brought the students into contact with several members of the Katz faculty, as well as pre-med and med students, many of whom reflected the cohort’s diversity. There were also ample opportunities for the students to connect throughout the week, like over the daily catered lunch.
Both Goodwin and Richardson said they appreciated getting to know like-minded people.
“ We live in such a diverse world, and one of the main points of the program is to learn about other cultures and get more minorities interested in working in healthcare. So, it was cool to see people like me in the same room learning the same things and have the same goals as me.”
Temple Health, reimagined
The mini-med school program is still in its infancy, but Dr. Berkeley is already certain of its impact.
“I think we are changing lives,” she says Dr. Berkeley and the program’s former coordinator, Ingrid Mapanao, MSW, MPH, believe there are tremendous opportunities for the growth of our Mini-Med School and the Katz School’s broader outreach to middle and high school students. Dr. Berkeley is committed to expanding the program by adding more sessions, increasing participant numbers, and addressing critical needs—like ensuring every high school student in our surrounding neighborhoods has access to a computer and reliable Wi-Fi.
“By expanding, we’re reaching kids sooner and telling them, ‘The things we do, you can do too,” Dr. Berkeley says. “It’s a really important message for people who may need a reminder of their potential and capabilities.”
However, turning these ambitious plans into reality requires more than just good intentions—it demands significant additional funding and resources. Currently, the Mini-Med School program operates solely on funds from the Katz School of Medicine, relying heavily on the dedication of volunteers.
“It’s really been supported by Dean Dr. Amy Goldberg and all the folks within the health system who have contributed to making this program happen,” Mapanao says. “A lot of volunteer hours are put into this program. A lot of people are very generous with their time.”
The Office of Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, (OHEDI) which initially launched the Mini-Med School, has already taken steps by applying for grants to fund this critical expansion. Dr. Berkeley actively seeks visionary donors who share our commitment to empowering the next generation of healthcare professionals.
“Programming of this kind is integral to delivering the healthcare we would like to deliver,” Berkley says. “At the end of the day, the people in the community care about the people who take care of them. And so, if we can have physicians, nurses, and physician assistants who live next to them, who are related to them, that’s everything.”