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Pipeline feeds inner-city students into medical, dental and pharmacy schools

Students from Temple's pipeline program, (left to right) Kimberly Babb, David Burgess and Kendra Babb, meet with program dirrector Neida Perez and Marquette Cannon-Babb, Director of Admissions at Temple University School of Pharmacy.

By starting at a very early age, in kindergarten, Temple University hopes to increase the numbers of disadvantaged and minority persons working as pharmacists, dentists, nurses and doctors. More minority health professionals would more accurately reflect our increasingly diverse population, and, experts believe, help reduce the persistent health disparities that are due largely to poor access to care, poverty and other socio-economic issues.

“We are building a local pipeline into the health professions by recruiting and preparing qualified students, supporting them through school, encouraging them to graduate and then return to serve the community from which they came,” said Raul DeLaCadena, MD, Director of Minority Recruitment and Retention. Half of minority health professions graduates want to practice in medically underserved communities compared to 14 percent of white graduates.

Kindergarteners at Fairhill Elementary in North Philadelphia listen to Ben Angarita, a student volunteer, give a lesson on the nutritious foods needed for healthy living as part of Temple's pipeline program.

Temple’s pipeline program, which encompasses several initiatives, including Health Care Opportunities for K-12 students (HCOP) and the Recruitment and Retention Office for health science professional students, is led by Neida Perez, HCOP director, Marquette Cannon-Babb, PharmD, Director of Admissions at the School of Pharmacy, and DeLaCadena.

Although Temple has worked diligently to increase the numbers of minority and other disadvantaged graduates from its health profession schools for over thirty years, its early intervention efforts began six years ago after prompting from the federal government. There was a growing realization that to overcome the significant barriers facing these children, educators would have to start much earlier to make them more competitive and prepared to apply, get accepted and graduate from dental, medical and pharmacy school. Today Temple is the only university in the region to start recruiting so early and one of only a few such programs nationwide.

“Our primary objective is developing a more competitive applicant pool of underrepresented minorities in the health professions,” said Perez.

Each year, approximately 150 to 175 students from three Philadelphia schools, Fairhill Elementary, Julia de Burgos Elementary, and Edison High School, participate in the program. They are selected based on interest, commitment and potential. Staff, faculty and students from Temple’s health professional schools lead in-class sessions, Saturday programs and summer research projects, and also provide mentoring, career counseling, test preparation, financial aid assistance and help on applications and interviews.

Currently, African-Americans comprise 3.4 percent of the pharmacy, dental and medical professions, while Hispanics comprise 3.8 percent, figures that don’t reflect the diversity of many American cities. In Philadelphia, a city of 1.5 million, over 50 percent of the population is African American or Hispanic.

According to the Institute of Medicine, when patient and health care provider share ethnic backgrounds, there is “greater patient participation in health care, higher satisfaction, and greater adherence to treatment.”

Preliminary findings from the Temple program show that early intervention does work and that the longer the students were in the program, the more likely they were to go on to college. The program measures its success by the number of students enrolled and retained in the program, on-time promotion rates, high school graduation rates, standardized test scores, and transition to and success at post-secondary institutions.

• At the elementary school level, 100 percent of the participants were promoted on time.
• At the middle school and high school levels, 97 percent of student participants were promoted on time.
• At the high school level, 77 percent of the graduates entered and are still enrolled in post-secondary education.

Success Stories

David Burgess, 19, grew up in North Philadelphia near Temple University Hospital. He always enjoyed science, but it wasn’t until an 8th grade teacher intervened to help him build his reading skills that his interest took off. He subsequently joined the Temple program.

“I always wanted to go to college and to be a doctor but didn’t think I could make it because of reading problems,” said David, who just finished his first year at the Community College of Philadelphia. “Through this program, I made the best friends I’ve ever had. The counselors and the Temple medical students were very helpful.”

“I’ve seen such a tremendous increase in David’s self-confidence and academic abilities,” said Perez. “We spend a lot of time on self confidence because students have to begin by believing in themselves.”

David has applied to transfer to Temple University.

Kimberly Babb, another success story, was in the pipeline program for five years and is graduating this month from the Girard Academic Music Program. She’s been accepted at Temple University and plans to study dentistry. Perez describes her as very studious with good academic potential. The pipeline program helped give her a sense of direction for her studies and career. Kimberly’s sister, Kendra, who enters 11th grade in the fall, joined the pipeline program at the same time. The sisters enjoy numerous musical talents, including classical flute and classical cello.

“Ultimately, I want more children from this neighborhood knocking on our doors to come to medical, dental and pharmacy school,” said Perez.

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- By Eryn Jelesiewicz

June 13, 2006

Contact Information:

Office of News Communications
Eryn Jelesiewicz, Director
Phone: (215) 707-0730
Fax: (215) 707-2940
eryn.jelesiewicz@temple.edu