Donchian Foundation Supports
The University of Connecticut Foundation has received a $25,000 grant from The Richard Davoud Donchian Foundation for the Health Center-based Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) in support of the Urban Service Track. The program addresses the chronic shortage of health care providers in Connecticut’s underserved urban communities by building a pipeline of medical professionals committed to working in those areas.
Established in 1993, the Donchian Foundation provides funds to nonprofit organizations whose programs result in the strengthening of the human spirit and the enhancement of personal integrity. The foundation channels most of its financial resources toward charitable organizations whose attention is concentrated on character development through leadership training, literacy, primary education, business integrity, spiritual enrichment and ethics.
Following a year-long pilot program, the first official cohort of Urban Health Scholars, as the students will be known, will be enrolled in the fall of 2007. The Urban Service Track is a joint program of the UConn Schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy. Three or four slots in the entering classes of each school will be reserved for students specifically selected for the Urban Service Track, resulting in a total of 12-16 students each year.
These academically qualified students will receive targeted training and intensive mentoring from health care professionals experienced in working with urban underserved populations. In addition to inter-professional training and clinical experiences, Urban Health Scholars will be educated in cultural and linguistic competency, community resources, and health care financing and management. Through this comprehensive training, they will gain the valuable skills necessary for their personal and professional development as future leaders in medicine.
“The Donchian Foundation’s support will help to provide exemplary educational opportunities to talented students at UConn that will prepare them to become confident, well-trained doctors, dentists, nurses and other health care providers ready to serve in urban communities,” notes Peter Deckers, dean of the UConn School of Medicine. “Our Urban Health Scholars will be well poised to address America’s future health care needs in a representative and culturally competent manner.”
Interdisciplinary clinical training for Urban Health Scholars will take place in federally qualified health centers and other primary care facilities, of which there are 12 located in urban communities across Connecticut. Students will receive clinical training in settings such as homeless shelters and migrant farm worker clinics, the same type of settings in which many Urban Service Track graduates will ultimately seek employment. Medical students will continue their training beyond graduation in association with participating urban primary care residency programs throughout Connecticut.
The Urban Service Track incorporates many features in use by longstanding and highly successful rural underserved health professions programs. These include developing an appropriate admissions process to determine applicants’ interest and experience with community service, and providing mentors who are experienced with urban health issues and interdisciplinary teaming. The initiative will also build upon some of the particular strengths of the University of Connecticut and the Connecticut AHEC program, such as programs that actively recruit minority and disadvantaged students, a curriculum that emphasizes community service and population health, and well-developed community-based training programs.
