Newswise — Thirty years ago, the Illinois State Legislature called for the formation of the Urban Health Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago to recruit, retain and graduate students from groups underrepresented in the health professions -- African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans -- who would practice in medically underserved urban areas.
Today, approximately 70 percent of the African American and Latino physicians who practice in Chicago are UIC graduates. The journal Black Issues in Higher Education has ranked UIC third or fourth for the past 15 years among the top 100 institutions in granting medical degrees to minority students.
"The face of our nation is changing," says Dr. Michael Toney, executive director of the program. "We are working to see that the face of health care is changing as well."
The goal of the Urban Health Program is not only to extend opportunity to underrepresented minority students, but to improve community health, Toney said. Many serious medical conditions afflict minority populations disproportionately.
"Blacks and Latinos have much higher incidences of obesity, heart disease, diabetes and many other treatable and preventable health problems. Blacks and Latinos also are often clustered in communities that are more toxic, that have more health hazards present, and yet also have significantly fewer health care providers in or near those communities. Our mission at the Urban Health Program goes beyond just training Black, Latino and Native American health care providers -- we are dedicated to helping solve these disparities. We encourage our students to work in the communities that need them most."
The program reaches students early in their education and helps them develop the basic skills necessary to prepare for a career in the health professions. Promising students are identified from kindergarten through high school, junior college and university, and supported at every stage. Each of UIC's health sciences colleges (Applied Health Sciences, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, School of Public Health and the Graduate College), the Early Outreach Program in the College of Education, and support units develops specific programs aimed at increasing the number of underrepresented biomedical researchers and health care professionals prepared to work in urban communities.
"The Urban Health Program is a model for other colleges and universities around the country when it comes to attracting and graduating a cadre of Black, Latino, and Native American students for the health professions," Toney said.
For more information about the UIC Urban Health Program please visit http://www.uic.edu/depts/uhealth
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