Program Introduction/Background
MedWork is an innovative network of students and faculty from the Association of STEMM Pathway and Bridge Programs (ASPBP) and International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) who serve as trained mentors (via MentorCity.com) for the duration of one year to high school students (10-12th grade) from community partners. The first community partner is Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) and students that participate in the district's Career & Technical Education (CTE) interscholastic program, which offers the earning of college credit or receiving job certifications for free. CTE students are largely from historically marginalized backgrounds. In subsequent years, will solicit additional community partners based on the host city of the IAMSE annual meeting. MedWork cohorts will include 20 students each year, and will engage other community partners to meet this threshold if needed. 

Relevance to ASPBP
The goal of MedWork is to address a gap in mentorship programming for high school students. This program provides a platform where high school students can foster authentic relationships with national and/or international STEM/Medicine professionals. The long-term goal of MedWork is to improve representation of historically marginalized students in health professions careers. The anticipated outcome of MedWork would establish new authentic engagement relationships at cities that IAMSE visits for its annual conferences (ASPBP conferences are online) for at least the next three years. 

Target Population
Members of both societies who identify as basic and clinical scientists interested fostering successful pathway programs and improving the educational experience for health sciences pre-clinical and clinical students agreed to connect with the conference host city’s public school district to determine how the national and international group of its members could provide service for the next year to the K-12 students. We have already completed a key phase of the project, collaborating with community stakeholders, to identify and fill gaps in their current programming. MPS expressed emphatically and enthusiastically for help to expand its network of authentically engaged mentors (national/international) for its CTE students.

Lessons Learned
MedWork is focused by our research questions which explore outcomes for both the Mentor and Mentee. This is the first global, virtual mentorship program which engages members from both professional societies. Dissemination of our findings will help to inform best practice for online mentorship programs. In order to assess our program, and inform future directions of MedWork, we have developed the following research questions: What is the effectiveness of MedWork as a model for establishing national and international authentic engagement? Does access to a global mentorship network impact high school students’ STEMM career pursuits? Can a collaborative mentorship network recruit and retain students from historically marginalized backgrounds? What professional goals can be accomplished through engagement with a mentorship network? Do Mentors become more familiar with barriers to entry STEMM careers faced by their potential students? We will use a narrative inquiry and mixed methods analysis approach to the study.