VCU School of Medicine
Advanced Degree Recruitment of Students from Underrepresented Minority Populations
The School of Medicine and its constituent departments/programs has a multi-tiered approach to the
recruitment of underrepresented minority students into advanced degree training. Support for Ph.D.
students is awarded on the basis of a cooperative review of candidates by the assembly of program
directors, meeting as a body through the recruitment season. The School has provided supplementary
funding to enhance the recruitment of well-qualified minority applicants whose performance on
standardized examinations might otherwise limit their competitive position for the offer of full financial
support.
Recruitment efforts are not limited to the above. The basic science departments as a group participate in
a variety of activities designed to engage students at various stages of their career development, providing
access and exposure to the research and training opportunities available in the School of Medicine.
Programs partner the School of Medicine with Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the region
through a variety of outreach mechanisms. The School of Medicine is partnered with Virginia Union
University (VUU) in an ongoing MARC program directed by Dr. Anthony Madu which places six-eight
VUU students at VCU for research experience annually. Several VCU School of Medicine faculty
members serve on the Steering Committee of this MARC program.
The School of Medicine has a long-standing relationship with Virginia State University (VSU) and
Hampton University (HU) to provide cooperative training of M.S. level students and bridge their transition
to Ph.D. training working with Dr. Regina Knight-Mason, Dr. Ross Johnson and Dr. Omar Faison (VSU)
and Dr. Elaine Eatman, Dr. Cornelius Bondzi and Dr. Mark Davis (HU). This program includes a seminar
series held at each of the partner institutions which brings members of the VCU faculty to the partner
institutions on a regular basis as a means of communicating career opportunities to students in training at
the Bachelor’s and Master’s levels respectively. The program also includes cooperative approaches to
research training in which participation in research and course work is available at VCU during the period
in which students are enrolled as Masters students at the partner institution.
The School of Medicine is fortunate in that several relatively recent graduates of training programs at
VCU have joined the faculty at both VSU (Dr. Omar Faison) and HU (Dr. Cornelius Bondzi, Dr. Cecile
Andraos-Selim). These appointments extend the relationships at the partner institutions, facilitating the
enhancement of bridging mechanisms, including research cooperation.
The VCU Health Disparities initiative, described elsewhere, has provided a mechanism for supporting
the placement of both students and faculty from regional institutions at VCU in the laboratories of School
of Medicine faculty. For the Summer of 2006, the placement of ~10 individuals from VUU, VSU and HU
is anticipated. In addition, programs publicizing the Health Disparities initiative visit all regional HBCU
institutions. This has fostered additional expressions of interest in research experience by students resulting
in the additional placement of individuals in VCU School of Medicine laboratories.
The School of Medicine also houses a high level of participation in programs designed to make students
from underrepresented minorities aware of the career potential of biomedical science at earlier stages in the
“pipeline”. Faculty and students from the basic science departments participate in the “Questors” program
which is based at the Richmond Math and Science Center. This program is designed to introduce high
school students to various aspects of biomedical science and incorporates both laboratory and lecture
experience on site at the Health Sciences Campus of VCU.
Supplementing the above range of activities is the ongoing cooperation with the Health Careers
Opportunities Program which coordinates activities related to the recruitment and retention of minority
students in health science programs at VCU. The Director of this key office, Ms. Ruth Dennis-Phillips,
provides a long-standing and continuing linkage to regional institutions. The HCOP Office provides a
mechanism for enhancing awareness of the available programs and continuing interest in minority
recruitment at VCU.
Minority students accepted into programs at VCU also hold eligibility for a number of additional
scholarship programs awarded by the Commonwealth of Virginia (SREB Program) through the VCU
School of Graduate Studies. These programs seek to enhance the participation of minority representatives
as future scientists and educators, providing an additional mechanism to enhance recruitment efforts.
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Coordination and communication of initiatives, strategies and opportunities related to the recruitment
and retention of minority students takes place at the monthly meeting of the Graduate Program Directors,
chaired by the Associate Dean for Graduate Education. While we believe that the spectrum of activities
described has met with a measure of success in recruiting minority students to our programs, we are in the
process of initiating a more formal coordination mechanism to ensure that student awareness of the
continuity of available programs is strengthened. Such coordination should also result in a heightened
awareness of the scope of existing programs among our faculty and student body which we anticipate will
serve to leverage an even greater level of participation.
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