by Kevin M. Sanders

One of OU-COM’s goals, says Dean Jack Brose, D.O., is to help America achieve a physician population that reflects the diversity found in the general population. The college’s self-appointed mandate in achieving that goal is to graduate classes of physicians who more and more reflect the ethnic and national diversity that is America. OU-COM has made significant strides in achieving that goal, consistently obtaining the highest percentage, in terms of recruitment, retention and graduation, of minority students (23 percent of the current enrollment) among all Ohio University graduate and undergraduate programs. In this year’s entering class, almost one out of four (28 of 114) are from diverse backgrounds.

“I think here at OU-COM,” says John Schriner, director of the Office of Admissions, “that reality replaces rhetoric. You can talk about minority recruitment and wanting a diverse class, but if you don’t achieve that, it’s just rhetoric. When you look at a graduating class and see real diversity within that class, it gives you a great sense of accomplishment. That accomplishment has been possible because we’ve been able to provide the programs and support that enable people to realize their dreams of completing a medical education.”

“We’ve been told by university administration officials,” says Tyrone Carr, director of the college’s Center of Excellence, “that we must be doing something right.”

Those same officials, Carr says, have pointed to the college’s success as something worth examining if seeking to improve minority enrollment in other graduate and undergraduate programs at the University.

Just how has this success been achieved? According to Carr, it is a result of a consistent, constant collaboration and communication between the Health Careers Opportunity Program, directed by Elizabeth Minor; the Office of Admissions; and COE. Within the college, HCOP and COE are almost indistinguishable, because together they form the Center of Excellence for Multicultural Medicine. Both are funded by federal government Health Resources and Services Administration grants. The college’s COE is the only one in Ohio and the only one in the nation based at an osteopathic medical school. In the nation, COEMM is a unique entity.

Although HCOP’s efforts are geared to preparing students from junior high school through college for careers in a range of health-care professions, it also introduces those students, as well as college graduates, to possibilities of medical school and, particularly, OU-COM. HCOP primarily focuses on students who are educationally disadvantaged due to economics, race or generational educational experience, while COE works to recruit minority medical students and minority faculty members for the college.

Because their goals are so programmatically consonant, communication between their units is almost a daily thing — and that includes admissions — stresses Carr.

“I think that we work hand-in-hand with the Office of Admissions. It’s almost like a waltz,” says Carr.

Between the three, they share information, contacts and, most importantly, the same focus — recruiting the best possible candidates, minority and non-minority, for OU-COM.

“The center and admissions work together to create a pipeline that provides access, support and programming that facilitate the preparation of minority and disadvantaged students for entry into the health-care professions and, hopefully, into OU-COM,” says Schriner.

Among the center’s programs are Summer Scholars, Post-Baccalaureate and Pre-Matriculation, which are designed to help minority and disadvantaged students gain admittance to medical schools and succeed in medical schools as well.

“Our summer programs and academic enhancement work to ensure that more students who have the desire to become physicians or other health-care professionals are not shut out due to their socioeconomic background,” says Minor.

“HCOP’s Summer Scholars not only provides a six-week preview of what medical school is like, it also provides an opportunity for participants to put their best foot forward at a medical school as they interact with our faculty and staff.

“Enhancing student preparedness and providing opportunities to succeed at every level is crucial to the goal of entering and graduating from medical school.”

For some students, that “best foot forward” can result in an invitation to attend OU-COM or an opportunity for future enrollment after successfully completing a year in the Post-Baccalaureate program.

Many of the participants, says Schriner, who complete one or more of these programs go on to graduate from OU-COM.

“One of our graduates, Adan Fuentes, D.O. (’03), completed all three programs. He’s currently in an ENT residency at Grandview Medical Center, one of the top hospitals — in both teaching and practice — in the country,” says Schriner.

That’s not usual, he says. Fuentes’ experience is similar to many students who have participated in the programs housed in COEMM.

Once a student has been admitted into OU-COM, Carr says their goal is to make sure that he or she graduates. And this relates to a central aim of HRSA, he says.

“That aim is to have the underrepresented minority students, after they become practicing physicians, serve minority populations in this country, which have grown tremendously and are still growing. When minority physicians return to their communities, the health disparities that exist in those communities are reduced.”

Ultimately, that is the vital long-term benefit of increasing diversity in the medical field.

“We help each other, and by helping each other, we help achieve one of the college’s missions — a diverse student body,” says Carr. And that will result in better health care for Ohio and the nation.

“We’re all committed to achieving real diversity in this college, and we’re building on our successes,” he says. And building on those successes in a practical sense means increasing minority enrollment — particularly that of underrepresented minorities — at OU-COM.