University of Richmond Joins Virginia-Nebraska Alliance, A Consortium Helping Minorities Attain Health, Biomedical Careers
December 6, 2005
University of Richmond has joined the Virginia-Nebraska Alliance, a consortium of colleges and universities working to increase minority representation in the health care professions.
The alliance’s members include Virginia’s five historically black colleges and universities—Hampton University, Norfolk State University, Virginia State University, Virginia Union University and St. Paul’s College—as well as Virginia Commonwealth University, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, the University of Nebraska, and now Richmond and the University of Virginia. The alliance identifies and cultivates talented minority students and faculty for clinical and investigatory careers in the health and biomedical sciences.
As a member of the alliance, Richmond will offer a summer preparation course for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) that includes living expenses and a stipend for up to 10 students from Virginia’s historically black colleges and universities. Richmond provides the course at no cost to its students during the regular academic year.
The alliance’s 2005 cohort of summer fellows included 14 students and faculty from historically black colleges and universities in the commonwealth who participated in summer research fellowships at Virginia Commonwealth and the University of Nebraska. With additional programming offered by Richmond and the University of Virginia, the alliance hopes to triple that number in summer 2006.
“The shortage of minorities in the health professions is well-documented, and helping undergraduates gain access to medical school is one way to begin closing that that gap,” said Richmond’s provost June Aprille. “Richmond has a highly successful program that prepares students for the MCAT, which is required for application to medical school. As members of the Virginia-Nebraska Alliance, Richmond will open the MCAT prep program to students at Virginia’s historically black colleges and universities who aspire to become physicians.”