High school students wanting to enter into the medical field may have the reinforcement they need with the Pre-Health Reinforcement and Enrichment Program or PREP.
The Quillen College of Medicine Office of Student Affairs determined that the best way to aid their potential students with basic courses was to start early.
This year Yvonne Buford, PREP program coordinator, decided to invite high school to participate in the summer program and continue with the program throughout high school and college.
“After two summers of watching senior college students struggle through basic science classes, I thought I could be more helpful by going back to the high schools and working with counselors to help them understand what the students need before they get to this level,” Buford said.
PREP is designed to strengthen students’ academic skills and to increase the opportunity for students to get into the medical school of their choice. Students will live on campus and meals will be provided.
“We have workshops planned, speakers coming in and we’ll be doing job shadowing,” she said.
Buford said that this type of a program could have a great effect on the students’ admissions to a medical school.
“The admissions has offered to put out information about the program,” she said. “And during the school year we will have first-year med students as tutors.”
Buford has received a lot of feedback from the students who have participated in the program and believes the program will be beneficial to all who attended.
So far 26 high school students and 45 college students have applied for the program.
“If all goes as planned we’ll be working with the students for eight years each,” Buford said. “We want to carry them through high school, bring to college and take them to the exam.”
Call Buford at 439-5655 for more information about the program.

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