Pre-Med SERVICE Program

This Program seeks to provide UChicago undergraduates as well as Underrepresented Minority premedical students with clinical exposure (shadowing), didactics, community outreach, and career guidance facilitated by emergency medicine physicians and trauma surgeons, within the context of UCMC’s Level one trauma center and ER.   

Mission: To support The University of Chicago-Urban Health Initiative’s (UHI) efforts, the University of Chicago’s Sections of Emergency Medicine and Trauma Surgery seek to improve patient care while simultaneously increasing the medical education, access to clinical learning experiences, and mentorship of pre-medical students (Including Under Represented Minority Students from Chicago’s South and West Sides). 

Goal: is to reduce barriers that have historically limited access to clinical experiences for the two distinct groups consisting of University of Chicago undergraduate students, as well as non-University of Chicago underrepresented minority (URM) pre-medical students. 

Working Theory: By promoting and facilitating a closer relationship between patient care volunteers and the physicians caring for the medical needs of these patients, we hope to provide improved medical experiences to all involved, but most importantly the patients. 

Program Components: 

• Clinical Exposure under ER physician supervision (Observing Heart attacks, strokes, traumas, fetal deliveries, etc) 
• Clinical Exposure with multidisciplinary team (Nursing, ER tech/EMT, Radiology, ER Social Work, and Case Management) 
• 4 Lectures on Healthcare Disparities, Clinical Skills(patient interviews and exam skills), Emergency Preparedness Skills (CPR, Bleeding wounds, Stroke and seizure management), and ER Interdisciplinary Introduction (How the ER works and the various team roles) 
• Community Outreach Career progression debrief (Session to help aid students individually with their progression to applying for medical school)