Health career recruitment
Program basics
- Programs that recruit and train students who are typically underrepresented in health careers
- Services may include career and academic advising, admissions counseling, access to advanced classes in health science subjects, practical work experiences and internships, and case management
Strength of evidence
Evidence level: Proven (highest tier)
?
Proven (highest tier)
Ranked as having the highest level of evidence by County Health Rankings and Roadmaps
Target population
High school-aged children
Program cost
Not available
Implementation locations
- Nationwide
Dates active
Not available
Outcomes and impact
- Increased academic achievement and educational attainment
- Increased high school graduation rates
- Improved competitiveness of applicants for postsecondary education
- Increased college enrollment
- Improved professional skills
- Increased acceptance into medical school
- Increased representation in the healthcare workforce and increased income for minority students
- A more diverse healthcare workforce increases rates of patient-doctor trust, with patients reporting that sharing an ethnicity or language with their healthcare provider increased their satisfaction with the care provided
Keys to successful implementation
- Note: This content is under review
- Implement programs early in the educational pipeline to assure strong results in health career applications from underrepresented groups.
- Take note of inadequate institutional resources, strained personal finances, insufficient guidance, and societal barriers, all of which act as obstacles for populations underrepresented in health careers; design and implement programming accordingly.
- Include summer experience programs and research mentorships in order to increase the likelihood of program acceptance and program completion.
- For college students, identify participants early in enrollment to help them complete math and science courses with grades strong enough for medical school acceptance.
- Connect students with current physicians, dentists, pharmacists, and medical students who can serve as mentors.
- Implement long-term interventions.
- Coordinate and share information with various health career recruitment programs in order to reach the overall goal with efficacy.
- Record data, such as students’ results and growth, diligently in order to identify which program materials are effective and which are not.
- Offer individualized advisement on college admissions and career counseling, specifically tailored to the health sciences field.
