by Brooke Bunch

Among all classes at OU-COM, minority students make up 23 percent of the current enrollment. In the Class of 2008, almost one out of four students is from a non-majority background.

When you see the ethnic and national diversity within a typical graduating class at the college, says John Schriner, director of admissions, that representation has been achieved because of the “programs and support that enable people to realize their dreams.”

At OU-COM those programs don’t start when students begin medical school. Those programs can begin as early as grammar school. This is because the pipeline for funneling minorities into health and science careers has to begin early in educational process if it is to have a real impact in terms of outcomes.

Recently, a group of Dayton high school students, who are a part of the college’s Health Careers Opportunity Program in the Center of Excellence for Multicultural Medicine, visited the campus.  The students’ trip was co-sponsored by the College of Health and Human Services, the Academic Enrichment Center and Upward Bound.

Seventeen teenagers from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School made up the group. These students are participants in a three-year program called OUHCAN or the Ohio University Health Career Access Network.

“Our major objective is to work with students who are disadvantaged and encourage them to pursue careers in the health and medical fields,” says Denise Hughes-Tafen, precollege and communications coordinator for the Center of Excellence for Multicultural Medicine. “But if nothing else, we want to make sure they go on to college.”

During their five-day visit, the students attended sessions focusing on college and ACT preparation as well as time management skills, all the while spending the nights in Bromley Hall dorm rooms.

“They had a real on-campus experience,” Hughes-Tafen says.

Hughes-Tafen says the high schoolers were exposed to various areas in the health and medical fields throughout their stay in Athens. OUHCAN strives to encourage the students to pursue medical careers, because according to Hughes-Tafen, a shortage exists in disadvantaged communities in terms of the numbers of medical and health professionals serving in these fields.

“We feel these areas would be better served if more people from these areas were trained in the health and medical fields and would then return to their communities to work,” she says.

Donedra Montgomery, 17; Khalila Daniels, 16; and Kalvin Wilson, 16, were among the students who made the trek to Ohio University. Daniels is considering pursuing a higher education at the university to become a pediatric nurse, while Wilson is interested in pursuing a pre-dentistry degree at the university.  

“We came to see how the campus life was and to explore different health-care fields,” Wilson says.

The students experienced the cultural side of Athens as well, making a stop at the Bob Marley memorial reggae concert at Baker Center over the weekend as well as the African Heroes Night.

“They got a good mix of academic and cultural exposure while they were here,” Hughes-Tafen says.  

According to Hughes-Tafen, the visit was a success, verified by the rave reviews of the traveling high schoolers.

“I’m going through the evaluations now, and some of the students who never even considered coming here are now seriously thinking about coming to OU,” she says. “They enjoyed their overall experience. They loved the program.”