Minority science students applying to graduate health programs are getting a helping hand through a $150,000 grant from the California Wellness Foundation.
Awarded to the SEES (Science Educational Enhancement Services) program, the grant will fund academic workshops, test preparation courses, travel to professional conferences, application costs and mentoring for 80 students a year for two years. In addition, the grant will pay for at least 15 students a year to participate in hands-on research apprenticeships.
“This grant will provide essential support that will widen the ‘bottleneck’ in the healthcare professionals pipeline enabling more underrepresented SEES science students to realize their dream of becoming a health professional,” says Barbara Burke, SEES director and chemistry professor.
The grant, which is the second for the SEES program, will aid Cal Poly Pomona students applying to medical, dental, pharmacy and other health programs. Under the first grant from 2007-10, more than 60 percent of supported students were accepted into a program, including doctoral public health programs at UCLA and UC San Diego, the medical school at USC, and the physician’s assistant program at Western University of Health Sciences.
The California Wellness Foundation awards grants to promote health, wellness education and disease prevention for people in California.