Partnerships to Broaden Diversity

The Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) at Dartmouth Medical School partners with various institutions and organizations to broaden the diversity of the applicant pool to our school. Medical students attend many of these recruitment events with the OMA whenever it is financially feasible and student schedules allow for travel and time away from school. Below is a list of those partnerships.

American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES)
The AISES mission is to increase substantially the representation of American Indian and Alaskan Natives in engineering, science and other related technology disciplines. The OMA has visited the National AISES Conference Recruitment Fair three years. This fair is the largest of its kind for Native American students who have demonstrated an interest in the sciences. Over 3000 Native American students attend each year. Dartmouth Medical School has benefited by a large Native American applicant pool applying to our school where typically almost half of all Native American applicants applying to medical school are also applying to our school.

Association of American Medical Colleges-Minority Affairs Section (AAMC-MAS)
Each year at the annual national meeting, the AAMC - MAS offers a Minority Student Medical Career Awareness Recruitment Fair. The OMA along with Dartmouth medical students attend the recruitment effort where upwards of 700 minority high school and college students attend from that region of the country. During the past five years, the national conference has been in Washington, DC, Seattle, WA, Boston, MA, San Francisco, CA, and San Antonio, TX.

Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA)
The OMA has witnessed an increase in the number of Asian American medical students attending our school, OMA has seen the need to foster community through the formation of an APAMSA chapter. Asian American medical students have demonstrated leadership within this organization by organizing cultural activities like a Chinese New Year celebration and a "make your own sushi night" for our community. In the past, the OMA and DMS student government funded travel to the national APAMSA conference. By our medical students having visibility at the conference each year, Asian students have a level of comfort in applying to our school knowing the school will support them and their cultural ideologies.

qMD
This organization supports the social and unique needs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender medical students. The OMA and student government fully supports activities brought forward by this student organization. Each year, qMD student leaders attend conferences funded by the OMA that enable them to learn about the cultural versatility needed when serving LGBT patients well and then the qMD student leaders present this information back to their respective classes.

Medical/Dental Education Preparatory Program (MEDPREP)
MEDPREP's mission is to increase the numbers of underrepresented minority and disadvantaged students who will enter and graduate from medical schools and who will serve in U.S. health professions shortage areas. The highest priority for those students being from groups traditionally underserved in health care (Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans). The OMA hopes to continue to conduct outreach to the MEDPREP students each year since the program serves over 80 students rich with diversity.

National Association of Advisors in the Health Professions (NAAHP)
The OMA has worked closely with NAAHP in an effort to reach out to advisors that meet daily and that may have a personal relationship with minority pre-med students. Through this collaborative effort, the OMA has been forwarded by advisors numerous contacts of interested and qualified minority pre-med students.

National Association of Medical Minority Educators (NAMME)
NAMME is an organization dedicated to improving the overall health status of racial/ ethnic populations that have been historically underrepresented in the health professions. The OMA has been active in the NAMME northeast region. The director has presented at the regional conference. The OMA also participated in two recruitment efforts, one in Syracuse, NY and a second one in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

National Institute of Health Biomedical Sciences Recruitment Fair (NIH)
The OMA has had successful visits at the NIH. We met many students who were already in the process of applying to DMS. Many students who weren't considering DMS changed their mind and decided to apply to our school. During the follow-up process many more students engaged in wanting to know about our school than was the norm from a typical recruiting trip. Overall, students seemed more prepared academically for the challenges of medical school.

Penn Minority Post-Bac Student Organization (PMPBSO)
PMPBSO was founded to support the minority students that have traditionally been underrepresented in medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously, the OMA has visited with the minority students enrolled in the post-bac program at UPENN. This has provided an opportunity for the OMA and Dartmouth medical students to meet intimately with high achieving minority students who are preparing to attend medical school. Sessions include a discussion about the "Ten Most Commonly Asked Questions by Minority Pre-Med Students."

Student National Medical Association (SNMA)
SNMA is dedicated to increasing the number of minority students entering and completing medical school. Dartmouth Medical School fully supports and engages a DMS chapter of the Student National Medical Association. Through annual funding provided by the Dean's office, students are able to attend the national conference. Each year at the national conference, a large recruitment fair is held. The OMA and/or The Dartmouth Institute along with Dartmouth medical students participate in this event.

Summer Medical and Dental Education Programs (SMDEP)
SMDEP is a six-week summer enrichment program that prepares minority college students for medical school. It is inclusive of students representing a wide range of economic, cultural, racial, and ethnic diversity. Collaboration with this program has been the single most important recruitment tool to increase diversity at our medical school. Over 60 percent of all attendees of this program matriculate into medical school. This program offers twelve sites throughout the country and the OMA has visited the following sites in the summertime: Yale Medical School, Columbia University School of Medicine, University of Medical and Dental Schools of New Jersey, University of Virginia Medical School, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and Duke Medical School.

The OMA has other organizations that it collaborates with from time to time to increase the visibility of Dartmouth Medical School to the minority pre-med community. We have been involved with or visited the following organizations or attended the events listed below:

  1. Undergraduate Society for Black Engineers at Harvard University.
  2. Harvard Biomedical Sciences Diversity Program Recruitment Fair.
  3. Native American All Ivy Graduate Students Fair @ Dartmouth College.
  4. New England Board of Higher Education Minority College and High School Fair @ Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  5. University of Arizona and Arizona State University Biomedical Sciences Recruitment Fair.