A pathway from middle school to a career in health and medicine

The medical and behavioral health teams that provide care to students via SMART Clinics include a family nurse practitioner, a licensed and independent clinical social worker, a utilization and engagement manager, a certified medical assistant, a licensed practical nurse and/or registered nurse and a health and wellness coordinator.

As the Central Falls School District and its partners launch the Calcutt Middle School clinic in August, the partnership with Brown will leverage the expertise and experience of medical school students, faculty and staff, Diaz said. Members of the medical school community will assist with clinical treatment of middle school students in the clinic and participate separately in classroom engagement. 

David Upegui, a science educator at Central Falls High School, recently welcomed Diaz and second-year Brown medical student Carey Favaloro into his class on anatomy and physiology. Upegui worked with the pair to come up with ways to bring the science lessons to life. Diaz and Favaloro talked to the class about anatomy in the context of examining patients, making diagnoses and identifying health disorders.  

“Because of their experience and knowledge as medical professionals, they could augment my teaching — for example, they could talk about case studies and situations they’ve dealt with in a clinical capacity,” said Upegui, who is an adjunct lecturer in education at Brown.

Upegui has been inviting Warren Alpert Medical Students to talk to his classes for years and says he’s looking forward to the formalization and consistency of the visits as part of the SMART Plus pathways program.

“The SMART Plus pathways program is another way to have Central Falls students middle and high schoolers see medical students and clinicians who look like them, or who don’t look like them but are clearly taking an interest in their academic and professional success,” Upegui said. “There’s so much underdeveloped talent and capacity in Central Falls schools, and this is a way to get these young minds participating at a higher level.”

The initiative is the first step in a broader set of pathways programs at the Warren Alpert Medical School. Through the new SMART Plus program, Central Falls middle school students will start learning about medical education. In high school, students will continue learning about health and medical careers, and may choose to participate in a summer or after-school program with the Warren Alpert Medical school. Then in college, they may apply to the Month of Medical School program with Brown, or apply for a related internship, or connect with mentors at the Warren Alpert Medical School — mentors that they first met in class years ago.

“This program increases the potential for Central Falls students to attend medical school, do their residency in Rhode Island and then stay to practice medicine in the community,” Diaz said.

Even those students who don’t choose medical careers will be empowered by expanded health literacy, Upegui said, and will be able to use biomedical knowledge to solve other problems faced by their communities.

Professional role models and mentors

In addition to classroom content, an important component of pathways programs is the role modeling, mentorship and advising students receive from health care professionals.

“Medical students will help prepare students for health care professions through education, advising and mentorship," said Dr. Michele Cyr, the medical school’s senior associate dean for academic affairs. “By sharing their own educational journeys, as well as by working as health providers in the SMART Clinic, they can also inspire students to consider similar paths.”

Cyr and Diaz conceptualized the SMART-Plus Pathways program in partnership with the Ginn Group Collaborative, who created the SMART Clinics model. Luckson Omoaregba, director of pipeline programs at Brown’s medical school, will oversee and manage the SMART-Plus Pathways program. Medical school students have shown strong interest in the program even as it’s just getting off the ground, Diaz said.

“The students are intensely aware that the health care workforce doesn't reflect the communities that we're caring for,” Diaz said. “They want to be involved because this pathways program has the potential to bring more types of people into the field, ultimately diversifying health care professions.”

While the program is intended to nurture the ambitions of individual students, it is also intended to have a long-term beneficial effect for the community. Pathways programs have been shown to promote a culturally competent, diverse and prepared health care and biomedical research workforce that enhances patient care and ensures health equity.

“It is the ultimate hope that students who participate in the pathways program will return to their communities as health professionals and serve as role models for future generations of students,” Diaz said.

A deep commitment to improving health

The SMART-Plus Pathways program in Central Falls is being made possible with the generous support of the Warren Alpert Foundation, which is committed to improving health of the public through grants and programmatic activities progressing toward medical treatments or cures through basic and translational research as well as through health education.

As part of a competitive awards program, Brown’s proposal for SMART Plus Pathways program was selected by the foundation to receive $2.4 million in support. The foundation grant will cover all technical assistance, training, start-up operations and infrastructure costs to develop the new SMART site, while the medical school will fund an additional $2.4 million in program costs.

This award to fund Brown’s role in the SMART Clinic comes amid other foundation support for the life sciences at Brown. Over the past 18 months, the Warren Alpert Foundation has also funded the following high-impact projects: $4.6 million to the research and development of an mRNA malaria vaccine for children; $3.4 million to investigate a novel therapy for pancreatic cancer; $2.5 million to study targeted intensive case management of veterans at risk of suicide after inpatient hospitalization; and $1.2 million for a public health project evaluating a skilled nursing facility payment system.

The total amount from the foundation over the past year and a half — $14 million — supports a variety of innovative research and education initiatives, aimed at ultimately improving the health and well-being of people in Rhode Island and beyond.

The Warren Alpert Foundation is also the largest philanthropic donor in the school's 50-year history, giving $100 million in 2007, which renamed the school, and $27 million in 2016 to support the training of physician-scientists.