Undergraduate Medical Accelerator Program Returns to Tulsa

Originally published October 19, 2022. Organizational names and links have been updated to reflect the nonprofit’s current identity.

Driven by the success of the Undergraduate Medical Accelerator Program pilot held in April 2022, SDN will be conducting another session of the seminar on medical school admissions for community college students at Tulsa Community College. The next session will be held on October 21, 2022, again in partnership with Oklahoma University-Tulsa University School of Community Medicine and Tulsa Community College. Emil Chuck, Ph.D., Director of Advising Services for SDN, will be presenting the course.

The UMAP program consists of detailed presentations on admissions, prerequisites, and extracurricular activities. In the Resource Roundup section, students can talk to medical school admissions professionals and students and learn about the resources available from SDN and their community college to help them on their journey.

“We are thrilled to bring UMAP back to Tulsa and partner again with OU-TU School of Community Medicine and Tulsa Community College,” said Laura Turner, Executive Director of SDN. “Based on the feedback we received from the initial pilot, the program has been updated with additional information tailored for community college students.”

“Community college students tend to be from lower-income households and are more likely to be the first in their families to attend college,” continued Ms. Turner. “Because they have less exposure to medical students and physicians, they can be in the dark about the challenges of the medical school admissions process. This course aims to close that information gap.”

“UMAP pilot participants indicated that having the chance to meet medical students was one of their favorite parts of the program,” said Dr. Chuck. “The medical students are inspiring ‘near-peers’ for the community college students, so we have added additional time to the schedule for the community college and medical students to engage.”

SDN is seeking to expand the program to additional sites in the future. For more information about bringing UMAP to your institution, please contact SDN.