A health professions pipeline for underrepresented students: middle and high school initiatives

SAT scores among Aetna HPPI attendees were higher than the Hartford School District mean.

“This analysis found that all seniors graduated from high school with high college matriculation rates, and that SAT scores among program attendees were higher than the Hartford School District mean, suggesting that mentorship and academic support through pipeline programs may improve academic outcomes even during the high school phase [26].”

Mentorship and academic support through pipeline programs may improve academic outcomes even during the high school phase.

“This analysis found that all seniors graduated from high school with high college matriculation rates, and that SAT scores among program attendees were higher than the Hartford School District mean, suggesting that mentorship and academic support through pipeline programs may improve academic outcomes even during the high school phase [26].”

All seniors in the Aetna HPPI graduated from high school with high college matriculation rates.

“This analysis found that all seniors graduated from high school with high college matriculation rates, and that SAT scores among program attendees were higher than the Hartford School District mean, suggesting that mentorship and academic support through pipeline programs may improve academic outcomes even during the high school phase [26].”

Evidence of improved academic outcomes is not limited to the post-baccalaureate setting.

“Evidence of improved academic outcomes is not limited to the post-baccalaureate setting [26].”

Early exposure to health professions was associated with an increase in students' career preparedness.

“Similarly, several studies reported that early exposure to health professions was associated with an increase in students' career preparedness (Wrensford et al., 2019)”

Wrensford et al. (2019) examined a segment of a pathway program, the Aetna Health Professions Partnership Initiative (Aetna HPPI) sponsored by the Department of Health Career Opportunity Programs at University of Connecticut (UConn) Health, which yielded a 100% high school graduation rate among participants compared to lower rates in their district.

“Wrensford et al. (2019) examine a segment of a pathway program, referred to as the Aetna Health Professions Partnership Initiative (Aetna HPPI) and sponsored by the Department of Health Career Opportunity Programs at University of Connecticut (UConn) Health yielded a 100% high school graduation rate among participants compared to lower rates in their district (Wrensford et al., 2019).”

Across the included studies, medical school and other healthcare program enrollment rates were described as key indicators of the programs' effectiveness in achieving their aims of broadening participation in medicine.

“Across the included studies, medical school and other healthcare program enrollment rates were described as key indicators of the programs' effectiveness in achieving their aims of broadening participation in medicine (Robles et al., 2021;Wrensford et al., 2019).”

Pathway programs are characterized as mechanisms that can broaden access to medical education by attracting and retaining students who have historically had difficulty accessing medical school.

“Pathway programs are characterized as mechanisms that can broaden access to medical education by attracting and retaining students who have historically had difficulty accessing medical school.”