Pathway programs developed at Carle Illinois College of Medicine are providing career-advancing research experience and exposure to medicine for dozens of aspiring doctors and scientists from groups that are underrepresented in medicine, science, and engineering.
The programs allow students like Dylan Davis to learn directly from medical experts and work alongside world-class researchers from CI MED and Carle Health. Davis is a pre-med student at Northwestern University. He was one of the scholars selected for CI MED’s Research and Education for the Advancement of Compassionate Healthcare (REACH) in the summer of 2024.
“Pathway programs are one avenue for addressing the disparities in the representation of physicians from backgrounds and identities underrepresented in medicine,” CI MED Chief Diversity Officer Nicole del Castillo said.
Davis shadowed radiation oncologist Sinisa Stanic, MD, Medical Director of the Carle Cancer Institute, where he learned about state-of-the-art tools like the Varian True Beam linear accelerator. It’s used to pinpoint radiation to eradicate small cancers while preserving normal tissue. “I was blown away at how intricate it (the technology) was in creating a 3D plan on how to direct the radiation. I was impressed with how knowledgeable everyone was,” Davis said.
Davis also gained new insights into the skill of building the doctor-patient relationship. “He had a really nice bedside manner. I want to be a psychiatrist. He (Dr. Stanic) said that all doctors use a little bit of psychiatry in their practice in caring for their patients, and that really stuck with me,” Davis said.
This year’s program emphasized more clinical experiences including shadowing physicians, like Stanic, which can be critical for REACH scholars who are applying to medical school soon. “We need to give a chance to all of them (REACH students) to see real medicine, to talk to a doctor, to ask questions,” Stanic said. Many medical schools emphasize the importance of shadowing, but gaining those experiences can be a challenge for many pre-medical students, especially individuals from backgrounds and identities underrepresented in medicine. “This helps them understand the physician’s occupation and prepares them much better for the future as they know what to expect if they choose a medical profession,” Stanic said.
Working with CI MED Professor Ann-Perry Witmer, Davis also conducted his first out-of-class research project focusing on depression screening tests in Black and minoritized populations as compared to white communities. “We’re looking at whether tests that were originally developed in urban, Caucasian settings may be less effective in other communities,” Davis said. “We also look at the cultural stigma that may affect [patient] responses in some populations.”
Along with REACH (for undergraduate students), CI MED offers an additional pathway program called Sparking High Schoolers' Excitement for Research in Engineering & Science (SpHERES) for local high school students. Both programs provide clinical, professional development, and research opportunities to students who might not receive them otherwise.
“Pathway programs like REACH and SpHERES are crucial in increasing exposure and opportunities for learners to medical research, the field of medicine, and mentorship relationships. Given our unique medical school, we are also able to introduce REACH and SpHERES scholars to innovation in medicine and cultivate future physician innovators,” del Castillo said.
REACH and SpHERES scholars had an opportunity to present the results of their work at the end of their respective programs.
All REACH and SpHERES scholars spent most of the summer working on their research projects with guidance from a CI MED faculty mentor. Other activities included two days at the JUMP Simulation Center with sessions on intubation, physical exam, and VR anatomy, a 3D printing session with the CI MED medical student 3D printing group, a suturing session, problem-based learning case, and mentoring and advising sessions with del Castillo, Dana Gillon, PhD, and Napoleon Knight, MD, of Carle Health and CI MED.
CI MED students Nama Naseem and Jona Kerluku were instrumental in coordinating the REACH and SpHERES programs for the 2024 cohort. Building on work started last year by CI MED students Christian Guerrero-Juarez and Maria Bederson to create evaluation tools for the two pathway programs, Kerluku has launched a research project that will analyze REACH and SpHERES outcomes and help CI MED grow the programs in the future.
Editor’s note:
REACH mentors for 2024 included: CI MED Professors Ann-Perry Witmer, Ruby Mendenhall, Manuel Hernandez, Mallikarjuna Rao Kasam, and Health Innovation Professor (HIP) Jacinda Dariotis, PhD, as well as CI MED staff member Florence Adibu. Mentors for the six high school scholars in the SpHERES program included Professor Sara Pedron Haba and Health Innovation Professor Carolyn Cao; CI MED staff members Shandra Jamison and Mae Vogel of the JUMP Simulation Center, where students developed real simulation assets for use at the SIM Center; and HIP Jacinda Dariotis, PhD at the FRAME lab. Carle Health physicians who hosted pathway program scholars this year included Drs. Blair Rowitz, Meredith Main, Sinisa Stanic, Mehmoodur Rasheed, Georgina Cheng, Kalika Sarma, and Nicole Howell.