Arizona Maximizing Medical Education Potential (AZ MMEP) is designed to improve students' skills in the critical early stage of their pre-medical studies.
The specially-tailored program uses a combination of independent e-mail and Web-based assignments and two intensive three-day weekend workshops on the UA Campus, July 7-9 and July 28-30. The program will be held through Aug. 9.
"AZ MMEP focuses on increasing students' understanding of the educational pathway to medical school, and increasing their self-knowledge of their current skills and competencies compared to those needed for success in pre-medical studies and medical education," says Linda K. Don, director, UA Office of Minority Affairs. "Participants develop a personal plan for achieving educational success. They also prepare for the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) and for gaining admission to medical school; improve their verbal and written skills; and expand their understanding of cultural competence in health care and the new national standard for medical education." AZ MMEP developed out of the six-week Summer Medical Education Program (SMEP), a national pre-med enrichment program previously held at the UA each summer.
AZ MMEP is designed for students who are attending a community college or are in their first two years of college, or, if above that level, who are not planning to apply to medical school for at least two years; who are career-changers or post-baccalaureate students pursuing pre-medical studies; or who are non-traditional students, such as older students or single parents.
The program is geared especially to meet the needs of students who are characterized by one or more of the following criteria: the first in their immediate family to attend college or the first in their extended family to pursue as career in medicine, a member of an ethnic minority group that is underrepresented in medicine, from a medically-underserved rural or urban community, or educationally or economically disadvantaged.
Participants live on campus during the two workshops, then return to their homes, where the program continues via online chat rooms, independent reading and study assignments and mentored writing tasks. Reading and writing assignments are submitted via e-mail. Participants earn three units of credit through the UA Summer Session upon successful completion of AZ MMEP.
Students participating in the first AZ MMEP include:
