Three Takeaways from Historic Mission SMART Pathway with HBCU Xavier University of Louisiana
It's been a big year for expanding pathway opportunities to medical school at the College of Human Medicine. Upon forging additional partnerships throughout the state, the college announced last week an agreement with Xavier University of Louisiana to provide an
enhanced opportunity for Xavier premedical students to attend medical
school at MSU through our Mission SMART initiative.
What is Mission SMART?
The Mission SMART (SpartanMD Acceptance Realization Track) Initiative is an enriched, interest-directed early acceptance program. With this initiative, the College of Human Medicine formally pursues and partners with like-minded undergraduate institutions with whom we share a strong mission-fit, based on graduate experiences and outcomes. To students at those institutions, Mission SMART offers early admission with enriched experiences for undergrads interested in becoming physicians in an underserved region or population.
It's a big moment, as the college continues to ensure pathways to medical school for students with whom the college is a great fit. Here are three highlights from the new partnership and why it's so important.
Everything we do at the college is driven in large part by our mission, including our admissions process. Successful applicants to CHM show a resonance with this mission and, ultimately, a fit with the college that is instrumental in reaching matriculation.
Both the institutions believe that graduates from Xavier have the familiar traits that CHM is looking for in competitive applicants. It's an appeal that wasn't lost on CHM admissions counselor and director of minority recruitment, Elizabeth Lyons, who spearheaded the partnership with Xavier's director of premedical program, Quo Vadis Webster.
"After doing some research, we discovered that Xavier University has been at the top in terms of graduating the most African American premed students who then successfully matriculate into medical school," explains Lyons about the initial connection between the two programs. "I made contact with the premedical advisor at Xavier and we had several phone calls to discuss each school's mission, in order to ensure that Xavier graduates and our program at MSU were compatible in terms of support system, goals, diversity."
There was indeed a fit there and Lyons says relationship-building was key to growing the partnership. She would ultimately take several trips to New Orleans, even having a current CHM student accompany her on one of those trips to speak with Xavier premeds. Current third-year CHM student, Onome Oboh, is a Xavier University alumnus, proving that Xavier students can certainly make a home at CHM as well.
“This partnership represents two institutions that share core values, including promoting the dignity and inclusion of all people," said Aron Sousa, MD, interim dean of the MSU College of Human Medicine. "We are offering this pathway to medical school to premedical students who share our mission for responding to the needs of the medically underserved.”
Being America’s only historically Black and Catholic University is just
the first of the distinctions that have set Xavier University of
Louisiana apart for more than eight decades.
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), Xavier ranks first among the nation’s colleges and universities in the number of African American graduates who go on to complete medical school. From 2013-2018, 147 black students who attended Xavier went on to complete medical school. That's significant as the school pushes back against declining numbers of African American men in medical school. While the AAMC has reported that the number of African American women has increased over the last few decades, figures for black students in medical school still lag. In the 2015 AAMC report, “Current Trends in Medical Education,” only 5.7 percent of medical school graduates in the nation were black.
Concerning black men in particular, a report entitled "An American Crisis: The Growing Absence of Black Men in Medicine and Science," found that the number of African American men enrolled in medical school was fewer in 2014 (515) than it was in 1978 (542).
These disparities drive Xavier's focus on engaging diversity in medical school. The HBCU's success in achieving such high med school acceptance rates for their graduates, Webster says in this article from 2018, is credit to the institution's "multi-layered" approach in supporting students who want to become physicians.
"Quo Vadis is very nurturing and wants to set her students up for success. It shows in how thorough our conversations were," said Lyons. In her role at CHM as it pertains to minority recruitment, that care is something Lyons, herself, wants to impart to applicants who ultimately matriculate to the college.
Many studies have documented racial and ethnic disparities in the US health care system—some of the most medically underserved areas have historically been communities predominantly made up of African Americans and Latinxs. It serves for our part as we continue focusing on underserved populations that students from underserved communities feel an attraction to CHM's mission.
Over the last five entering classes, an average of 45% of matriculating students to CHM indicated they were of a race/ethnicity other than white, reaching as high as 49% in 2019 and even 52% a year prior. The percentage of those whom are medically underrepresented minorities made up close to 30% of matriculants in that same span.
For our continued efforts as a community-based medical school looking to fill various community needs, the College of Human Medicine ranked sixth in the nationwide study, The Social Mission of Medical Education: Ranking the Schools, which compared medical school statistics for doctors who are minorities, practice primary care, and work in underserved areas.
Referring back to the first point about compatibility, it shows that two institutions with similar visions can work together to create noteworthy solutions.
“We are delighted to team up with Michigan State University to provide yet another direct avenue for our students to continue Xavier’s prominent role in the education of young African American doctors,” said Xavier President Dr. Reynold Verret about the agreement. “It is the ongoing purpose for which Xavier was founded, to find and cultivate talent, especially from African-American communities, and send it forth to serve and build the nation, whether through medicine, law, whatever the need.”
Read More: "How Xavier University sends more black grads to medical school than almost any other college"
“We are excited to welcome Xavier University of Louisiana as our founding partner with the Mission SMART Initiative,” said Dr. Sousa.
Founding the initiative with a highly regarded program like XULA is a historic moment for our college that we don't take lightly. While the College of Human Medicine does give preference to Michigan residents as a state-funded institution, we also recognize the importance of out-of-state students as a vital component to our student body. Approximately 20-30% of each entering class is from outside of
Michigan.
Leading up to this point, only two tracks were designated for early assurance of admission to the college. While the Early Assurance Opportunity (EAO) was reserved for students from Michigan State University, the Early Assurance Program (EAP) allowed CHM to partner with institutions across the entire state of Michigan, allowing residents from across the two peninsulas a pipeline to medical school. Now, we look across the country, as Mission SMART ensures a pipeline to students at an institution whom shares a familiar vision.
Qualified applicants from partner schools will have obtained meaningful human clinical and service experiences. Potential applicants to Mission SMART receive academic support and advising from their home school directed toward medical school admissions in general, accompanying additional guiding advice consistent with our college's mission. During junior year (or the year prior to completion of their undergraduate degree), students apply to CHM as a representative of Xavier, beginning what we hope will be an impactful relationship.
Recap the official articulation agreement announcement here.
What is Mission SMART?
The Mission SMART (SpartanMD Acceptance Realization Track) Initiative is an enriched, interest-directed early acceptance program. With this initiative, the College of Human Medicine formally pursues and partners with like-minded undergraduate institutions with whom we share a strong mission-fit, based on graduate experiences and outcomes. To students at those institutions, Mission SMART offers early admission with enriched experiences for undergrads interested in becoming physicians in an underserved region or population.
It's a big moment, as the college continues to ensure pathways to medical school for students with whom the college is a great fit. Here are three highlights from the new partnership and why it's so important.
1. Compatibility is Key: It's (Still) All About Fit
We have a saying at the College of Human Medicine: "It's all about fit."Everything we do at the college is driven in large part by our mission, including our admissions process. Successful applicants to CHM show a resonance with this mission and, ultimately, a fit with the college that is instrumental in reaching matriculation.
Both the institutions believe that graduates from Xavier have the familiar traits that CHM is looking for in competitive applicants. It's an appeal that wasn't lost on CHM admissions counselor and director of minority recruitment, Elizabeth Lyons, who spearheaded the partnership with Xavier's director of premedical program, Quo Vadis Webster.
"After doing some research, we discovered that Xavier University has been at the top in terms of graduating the most African American premed students who then successfully matriculate into medical school," explains Lyons about the initial connection between the two programs. "I made contact with the premedical advisor at Xavier and we had several phone calls to discuss each school's mission, in order to ensure that Xavier graduates and our program at MSU were compatible in terms of support system, goals, diversity."
There was indeed a fit there and Lyons says relationship-building was key to growing the partnership. She would ultimately take several trips to New Orleans, even having a current CHM student accompany her on one of those trips to speak with Xavier premeds. Current third-year CHM student, Onome Oboh, is a Xavier University alumnus, proving that Xavier students can certainly make a home at CHM as well.
“This partnership represents two institutions that share core values, including promoting the dignity and inclusion of all people," said Aron Sousa, MD, interim dean of the MSU College of Human Medicine. "We are offering this pathway to medical school to premedical students who share our mission for responding to the needs of the medically underserved.”
2. Partnership helps to combat Underrepresentation of African American medical students in the U.S.
Being America’s only historically Black and Catholic University is just
the first of the distinctions that have set Xavier University of
Louisiana apart for more than eight decades.
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), Xavier ranks first among the nation’s colleges and universities in the number of African American graduates who go on to complete medical school. From 2013-2018, 147 black students who attended Xavier went on to complete medical school. That's significant as the school pushes back against declining numbers of African American men in medical school. While the AAMC has reported that the number of African American women has increased over the last few decades, figures for black students in medical school still lag. In the 2015 AAMC report, “Current Trends in Medical Education,” only 5.7 percent of medical school graduates in the nation were black.
Concerning black men in particular, a report entitled "An American Crisis: The Growing Absence of Black Men in Medicine and Science," found that the number of African American men enrolled in medical school was fewer in 2014 (515) than it was in 1978 (542).
These disparities drive Xavier's focus on engaging diversity in medical school. The HBCU's success in achieving such high med school acceptance rates for their graduates, Webster says in this article from 2018, is credit to the institution's "multi-layered" approach in supporting students who want to become physicians.
"Quo Vadis is very nurturing and wants to set her students up for success. It shows in how thorough our conversations were," said Lyons. In her role at CHM as it pertains to minority recruitment, that care is something Lyons, herself, wants to impart to applicants who ultimately matriculate to the college.
Many studies have documented racial and ethnic disparities in the US health care system—some of the most medically underserved areas have historically been communities predominantly made up of African Americans and Latinxs. It serves for our part as we continue focusing on underserved populations that students from underserved communities feel an attraction to CHM's mission.
Over the last five entering classes, an average of 45% of matriculating students to CHM indicated they were of a race/ethnicity other than white, reaching as high as 49% in 2019 and even 52% a year prior. The percentage of those whom are medically underrepresented minorities made up close to 30% of matriculants in that same span.
For our continued efforts as a community-based medical school looking to fill various community needs, the College of Human Medicine ranked sixth in the nationwide study, The Social Mission of Medical Education: Ranking the Schools, which compared medical school statistics for doctors who are minorities, practice primary care, and work in underserved areas.
Referring back to the first point about compatibility, it shows that two institutions with similar visions can work together to create noteworthy solutions.
“We are delighted to team up with Michigan State University to provide yet another direct avenue for our students to continue Xavier’s prominent role in the education of young African American doctors,” said Xavier President Dr. Reynold Verret about the agreement. “It is the ongoing purpose for which Xavier was founded, to find and cultivate talent, especially from African-American communities, and send it forth to serve and build the nation, whether through medicine, law, whatever the need.”
Read More: "How Xavier University sends more black grads to medical school than almost any other college"
3. As founding partner for Mission SMART, Xavier offers first early assurance pathway outside of Michigan
As mentioned, the Mission Smart Initiative was created for CHM to partner with like-minded institutions whom share a strong mission-fit. By partnering with Xavier, Mission SMART creates the first early assurance of admissions pathway to CHM for students outside of Michigan.“We are excited to welcome Xavier University of Louisiana as our founding partner with the Mission SMART Initiative,” said Dr. Sousa.
Leading up to this point, only two tracks were designated for early assurance of admission to the college. While the Early Assurance Opportunity (EAO) was reserved for students from Michigan State University, the Early Assurance Program (EAP) allowed CHM to partner with institutions across the entire state of Michigan, allowing residents from across the two peninsulas a pipeline to medical school. Now, we look across the country, as Mission SMART ensures a pipeline to students at an institution whom shares a familiar vision.
Qualified applicants from partner schools will have obtained meaningful human clinical and service experiences. Potential applicants to Mission SMART receive academic support and advising from their home school directed toward medical school admissions in general, accompanying additional guiding advice consistent with our college's mission. During junior year (or the year prior to completion of their undergraduate degree), students apply to CHM as a representative of Xavier, beginning what we hope will be an impactful relationship.
Recap the official articulation agreement announcement here.
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