Health Disparities Issues Addressed by SMYSP Class of 2010

Counselors Aimée and Stephen flank participants (and mentees) Dao, Scott, Pablo and Maria, in front of their poster presentation.

Congratulations to the SMYSP Class of 2010! On July 25, SMYSP ended another very successful summer program, thanks, in part, to our 10 Stanford student counselors and their wonderful work leading the program.

This year, group research projects, poster presentations, and oral presentations, given at our annual graduation ceremonies by our 24 high school students, focused on various aspects of health disparities within our communities. The presentations struck a chord with audience members, and resulted in many challenging questions raised by family, friends and other supporters. Student presentations were well researched, engaging and often controversial; some in the audience temporarily forgot that the presenters were mere high school students presenting a complex but narrowly-focused research project, and were not, in fact, experienced medical professionals who are able to respond to deeply probing medical inquiries.

That the audience were so engaged and invigorated by the presentations and raised valid questions about health disparities only served to illustrate the continuous need for more attention on health inequities, and further accentuated the desperate need for increased diversity in the medical profession. When asked why there weren’t more minority doctors, participant Jose Maldonado calmly responded, “That’s why we’re here in this program.”

Applications for the SMYSP 2011 Summer Residential Program will become available in late December.

 
Student Scholar Research Articles

High school students participating in the SMYSP Summer Residential Program work in small groups and research a medically relevant topic that includes a written paper, poster presentation, and oral presentation. Click here to learn more about their research.