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Jabria Spencer hopes a new set of high school courses offered by the University of Nebraska Medical Center will help her reach her goal of becoming an oncologist.
Ibukun Awodele hopes the new UNMC High School Alliance can couple with his engineering courses at Omaha North to give him a leg up toward becoming a biomedical engineer.
Bob Bartee and others at UNMC hope the new program fills a critical need for the state: more health care professionals, and more of them from diverse backgrounds. Forty percent of the students in the new program will come from low-income families.
More details on the program were announced Tuesday at a press conference at UNMC.
In the first year, the program will cost about $80,000 plus “four to five times that” in in-kind support from UNMC and local school districts, Bartee said. The funding comes from the Sherwood Foundation and UNMC.
High school juniors and seniors could take up to six health science courses at UNMC beginning in the fall.
Students would attend classes with UNMC faculty for two hours each weekday afternoon and have the option of earning dual credit through the University of Nebraska at Omaha for most of the courses.
The program is a partnership among eight area school districts and an educational service unit. The involvement of the ESU will allow students from outside the metro to participate.
“I hope I’m selected when I apply,” Spencer, 16, told a group gathered for the formal announcement.
The Bellevue West sophomore already is involved with an exploratory program at UNMC.
The program’s 35 student slots would be divided among participating districts, according to their size.
Students also may be able to participate in research.
Students in Ralston and Papillion-La Vista already can participate in a health careers program with a local hospital. Students in the Millard district will be able to participate in a similar program at the new Horizon High School in the fall.
Applications are available from high school guidance counselors and are due, with an essay and two recommendation letters, to UNMC by March 15. Bartee said a lottery of qualified students is likely.
To start, only public school students in participating districts are eligible.
“We want to walk before we run,” said Bartee, vice chancellor for external affairs for UNMC.
Contact the writer:
444-1037, michaela.saunders@owh.com
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