Upstate Medical University is launching a program aimed at offering extra support to medical students from underrepresented or disadvantaged backgrounds to “accelerate their academic success” in medical school.

The program, Distinguishing Docs!, a Student Affairs Retention program, is made possible by a $100,000 grant from the Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY) Diversity in Medicine program.  

Sharon Huard, associate dean of Student Affairs and Campus Life, said Distinguishing Docs! was created to help students excel and engage in experiences that will further advance their competitiveness for their chosen career.

Because every student is different, the program offers a menu of support and enrichment opportunities available in three categories based on program goals. Huard and program co-director Steven Contreras, director of Student Retention, will meet with students to individualize the support they will receive.

“When it comes to selecting a specialty path and applying for residency, it is not enough to have good grades and general co-curricular activities, students need other ways to distinguish themselves so they can stand out on their residency applications and during interviews,” Huard said.

The program’s first goal is to solidify the academic foundation of current medical students and accelerate students’ academic success. Under this goal, students can apply for up to ten hours of tutoring or an $800 study stipend for their Step 1 or Step 2 board exams. Some students don’t have extra resources to afford tutoring or work a job while in medical school. The stipend would allow them to either get the tutoring or stop working to focus on studying.

“The first goal was to solidify the academic foundation,” Huard said. “The higher the grades, the higher the scores, the better you’re going to do, the more doors you have open to you for residency.”

Goal two offers an academic remediation stipend ($800) or an extended curricular track support stipend. (Max $1500: $300 per month, for up to 5 months).

“If you have had a blip, say failed a test, and you’re also struggling with money and putting food on the table, this stipend can help,” Huard said.

The final goal is to enhance professional development and research opportunities to distinguish residency applications and increase the number of physicians across all medical specialties. To this end, stipends (up to $800) are available for summer research, professional development or mentorship experiences and for presenting at a professional conference.

Huard said that often, first generation students and students from historically excluded backgrounds are less prepared than other students because they do not have a family member or a mentor who is a physician to help guide them and encourage them in areas such as academic prep, career/specialty exploration and unique experiences such as professional development. Plus, some students don’t have the funds to pursue such opportunities that will help set them apart, such as presenting at a conference.

“Without a mentor, students may not be aware of the importance participating in additional opportunities or optimal supplemental learning resources to help with curricular mastery or board exam preparation,” she said. “Even with guidance, the next challenge for many students is that they are unable to afford conference attendance that could foster networking and presentation skills.

“Each of the opportunities in these examples can ensure a level of success that may set a student apart academically, make them more attractive to competitive specialties, or simply help them recoup perceived stature that may have been lost in traditional measures of success.”

The program is open to New York state residents who are either first generation students; have a

socioeconomic or educational disadvantage; were raised in a health professional shortage area and/or medically underserved area; are from a historically underrepresented/ historically excluded background and have demonstrated a commitment to improving health disparities and/or health inequities through medicine, scientific research and/or advocacy.

Contreras said that Distinguishing Docs! is focused on disrupting the cycle that so many of Upstate’s first generation and underrepresented students find themselves in. 

“We teach about social determinants of heath, but don’t always think about the impact that environmental factors may have on our medical students,” he said. “For example, we regularly encounter students, across the continuum, who do not have the financial resources to enhance their learning and experiences while on the path to residency.

Due to the different amounts of support offered, the plan is to help at least 75 students but the goal is to help as many as possible, and 100 percent of the grant will be used for student awards.

Interested students can apply here.  Applications are due by noon Oct. 4.

Caption: New York Health Commissioner Dr James McDonald, speaking at Upstate Medical University, highlights some of the efforts underway, including the Distinguishing Docs! program at Upstate and others, across the state to create a more diverse physician workforce to better reflect the population of New York.