Introduction

For the past seven years the American Medical Association Medical Student Section (AMA-MSS) at USUHS has been engaging the fifth and seventh grade classes at the Washington School for Girls with a range of interactive activities designed to stimulate and/or encourage a career in medicine. The majority of participating students are from low income, African-American communities and represent demographics that are severely underrepresented in medicine. With a series of surveys, this project aims to determine a) whether our efforts to develop and implement a range of medically oriented activities do in fact, result in an engaging and educational experience for these middle school students and b) whether participants develop an increased interest in medicine as a potential career path. This programmatic assessment of our educational outreach efforts will guide future curriculum planning for the USUHS based AMA-MSS and other organizations with similar goals. It could also provide information that could help enhance further development of universities' pipeline programs and other diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) related activities. Early results suggest success in both goals four months after the most recent event.

Methods

A day of innovative medical student-designed and student-led educational activities implemented for seventh grade level students from underrepresented backgrounds attending an all-girls school, with follow-up surveys beginning four months after the event to assess long-term impact.

Results

Subjective enjoyment, engagement, and increased interest in careers in medicine are documented in post-event surveys

Conclusions

The innovative events developed and shared in this project are engaging, memorable, and effective at increasing participant interest in medicine among female seventh grade students from underrepresented backgrounds.