Creation of a Massive Pipeline Program: Overcoming Socio-Economic Barriers For Healthcare Workforce Diversification

We received word today that we were awarded a ~$2M Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP) grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). With this grant, we will now double our number of students at the high school level (to >25 students/yr between SARE and our partnering program BRBT, which is another Hopkins high school program that shares our goals and values). We will also expand to include undergraduates (~17/yr) from disadvantaged backgrounds as part of the Summer Internship Program (SIP). We will also create a new program, the Doctoral Diversity Program (DDP), which will provide a 1-year mentored research and career development opportunity to 5 postbaccalaureate students annually. To accomplish this, we have assembled a wonderful team of Johns Hopkins Faculty and Staff who will help make this happen. Our overall goal is to establish a pipeline program to prepare students from disadvantaged backgrounds to be able to pursue advanced degrees in medical and STEM fields. Overall, this is a massive, comprehensive effort in which we will be impacting 48, 52, and 56 students in 2016, 2017, and 2018, respectively.