Twenty high school students had the chance to become immersed in Temple University’s innovative mini-medical school program. 

The five-day initiative, hosted by the Lewis Katz School of Medicine (Katz), focused on encouraging participating students to pursue medical careers. 

Nicole Miller-Allen, program coordinator at Katz , addressed the impact of introducing these high schoolers to an array of healthcare fields. 

“The importance of the program is to get them thinking about the options that they have at their disposal,” she said. 

“It’s hard to be what you don’t see, and everybody doesn’t have a doctor in their family. The goal of the program is to show them that you can be a doctor, you can go into medicine, you can be a part of the healthcare field.” 

“Everybody’s path looks different,” Miller-Allen continued. “We want students to understand that the path to a career in healthcare isn’t always straight or one-size-fits-all. There are multiple options, avenues and opportunities that can help get you to the same goal.” 

During the mini-med school held July 14–18 at Katz’s Medical Education and Research Building, participants took part in various workshops on topics ranging from medical careers to college preparation and financial aid. Students from 14 schools throughout the Greater Philadelphia region learned how to take vital signs and perform CPR and participated in an biomedical research lab. 

Layiona Mann saw participating in Katz’s mini-medical school as an opportunity to help strengthen her resume. The 14-year-old Archbishop John Carroll School student aspires to obtain her doctor in medicine degree at Katz and become a surgeon.  

She liked learning how to take blood pressure, apply to college, and write professional messages. 

“So fair it’s been great,” Mann said as she reflected on her mini-med school experience.  

“I learned a little more about how I should go about things in life in general, not just in the medical field.”  

Jali-Yania Sturgis applied to participate in the mini-med school because she needed some direction in determining what medical career she should pursue. 

“I was interested in medicine, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do,” said Sturgis, who is considering studying dentistry or radiology. 

The 17-year-old from Truman High School appreciated interacting with other mini-med program participants that were in similar situations. 

“It’s been fun so far meeting new people that think like me. They are not sure yet about what they want to do,” Sturgis said. 

Some of the Katz medical school students appreciated the opportunity to share their insight with high school students. 

“Throughout high school and college I wasn’t really familiar with what it took to get to medical school, and now that I am in the position to share the knowledge that I’ve gained with high school and college students, this is definitely something that I would like to partake in as much as possible,” said Tatianna Woodworth, a third-year medical student. 

Alex Arnold, a second-year medical school student, thinks they can better relate with high schoolers because they are part of a younger demographic. 

“One of my favorite parts about this is whenever I was asking questions about the medical field and how I could get into it when I was younger, I feel like I was always turned towards my doctor or my parents’ doctor who is an adult. Sometimes it is scary and daunting to talk to adults about this,” Arnold said. 

“We get to bring the younger side of things to these students. We’re not far off from where they are, so I think it’s great that they have cool med school students here that they can relate to.”