About the Program

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Surgery Summer Internship 

Goal
To create a surgical workforce that reflects the diversity and needs of the population UMass Chan Medical School serves.

Objectives
To provide exposure, support, and mentorship to college students underrepresented in medicine who are interested in the field of surgery through a 4-week summer internship at UMass Chan Medical School in order to:

1. Introduce the field of surgery and the various surgical subspecialties
2. Gain insight into the path to become a surgeon and provide the knowledge and tools required to be successful
3. Provide hands-on surgical simulation experience, clinical exposure, volunteering, and research opportunities to foster and expand such interests
4. Build relationships between the community and surgical department at UMass
5. Develop formal mentorships and sponsorships in pursuit of future surgical careers

Plan

Internship dates: June 3 - June 28, 2024 OR July 1 - July 26, 2024

Internship aims:

Research: participate in a clinical research project and/or case report with the goal of obtaining at least 1 publication

·  Will reach out to faculty and residents closer to internship dates for active projects

Shadowing: participate in clinical duties in the OR, clinic, and floors

·  Students will rotate weekly on four different services at University campus – options will include neurosurgery, vascular surgery, acute care surgery, pediatric surgery, transplant surgery, orthopedic surgery, trauma surgery (rotations TBD per availability)

·  Students will be cleared for clinical duties as well as OR scrubbing

Volunteering: 1 day/wk spent volunteering at the hospital

Mentorship: each student will be assigned a faculty mentor and will meet weekly to check progress on aims. Each student will also be assigned a medical student mentor to aid in the application process.

Application: four local college students underrepresented in medicine will be chosen to participate in the summer internship. We will advertise to those who attended “A Day in the Life of a Surgeon” as well as through pre-med advisors of MA colleges. See application below. Deadline of application March 1, 2024

Funding: each student will be provided a stipend of $2700 through the Remillard Family Grant