Over the last few academic years, our Offices of Admissions and Diversity, Inclusion, Community Engagement, and Equity (DICE) have engaged in numerous outreach events, either in person or virtually, at career forums, colleges, and universities, including at many Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs).
Recruitment fairs attended include the following, which attract significant numbers of underrepresented minority pre-med and pre-graduate students: Atlanta University Recruitment Fair (Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, and Spelman College); Student National Medical Association (SNMA) Recruitment Fair; Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA) Recruitment Fair; City College of New York Medical and Dental Program; Tri-State Recruitment Fair (Yale, Columbia, and Rutgers’s Summer Pathway program participants); Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) Recruitment Fair; Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS); AAMC Medical School Fair; Meyerhoff Scholars Fair at UMBC; Leadership Alliance National Symposium; and NIH Graduate and Professional School Fair.
These recruitment sessions are designed to introduce applicants to the YSM MD and MD-PhD programs, while also answering their questions and encouraging them to apply.
Beginning academic year 2019, DICE, in collaboration with the Admissions Office, has hosted an annual recruitment program, First Look Immersion. Pre-medicine advisors from HBCUs, the University of Puerto Rico system, and other undergraduate institutions in Puerto Rico, along with some of their prospective undergraduate premedical students, are personally invited to Yale’s campus for three days where they learn about YSM, financial aid, and all the resources that Student Affairs and DICEhave available to our students to ensure their success.
We are so grateful that many of you have supported our efforts to recruit more diverse classes, for example, through student affinity group outreach, serving as Admissions Office student ambassadors (now funded positions), participating in Second Look, and helping us create admissions materials that celebrate the diversity of the school, including video, print, and web content.
I also want to highlight that our commitment to increasing scholarships (and thereby reducing student debt) is aimed at expanding who is able to attend YSM, by making it affordable for people of all backgrounds.
Jessica Illuzzi, MD, MS
Deputy Dean for Education
Harold W. Jockers Professor of Medical Education