Hampton-VTC Work to Close Diversity Gap in Medicine

ROANOKE, Va. — Two rising Hampton University juniors have already been guaranteed admission to the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, a year ahead of when most of their peers will even start applying.
Kaia Amoah, 19, and Kenya Swilling, 18, are part of the fledgling VTC-Hampton University diversity program, launched this year by the two schools to address the disparate representation of minorities in health fields compared to their percentage of the population.

Data from the Association of American Medical Colleges show that just 6 percent of students enrolled in medical school last year were African-American. The disparity isn’t just among students: In 2013, 26,733 of the nation’s 34,011 medical school professors were white, according to association data.

Lauren Wiley, student coordinator at VTC, said the diversity program accepts two students fro Hampton University who express an interest in science and medicine. She said VTC decided to partner with Hampton because it is a historically black university that has had a lot of success with its pre-med program.

VTC Dean Cynda Johnson stressed the importance of the program in preparing these students for medical school, saying students from underserved areas often do not have as much experience. The early preparation and role modeling the program offers foster continued success, she said.

Forty percent of the students in VTC’s class of 2019, who just arrived on campus, are from underrepresented racial groups — African-Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans — or are first-generation students or from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, the school said. That compares to 30 percent last year.
Amoah and Swilling spent 10 weeks interning with professors from VTC.

Amoah, who’s from Cincinnati, said the program includes not only research, but also clinical studies, preparation for the MCAT and guidance from the admissions counselors on applying to medical school. Although the two students are guaranteed acceptance to VTC after their graduation in 2017 — as long as they continue to meet academic benchmarks — it is not binding. Both said this freedom contributed to their choice of the program.

“This (program) has the most prep in a lot of different areas,” Amoah said. “They really invest in you, but you have the freedom to decide where you want to go at the end.”