A surgeon at the Henry Ford Health Department is on a mission to get more high school students of color interested in the medical field.
Thoracic surgeon Dr. Ikenna Okereke, with the help of colleagues, is running a mentorship program at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. Students get a hands-on opportunity to talk to surgeons and see if it's the right path for them.
“When you actually put on the gloves and put on the gown, you're right next to the surgeon,” said Maxwell Wilson, a 10th grade student at Macomb International Academy.
This program is a dream come true for him as he explores his future career.
“I want to have surgery and this program really helped me make that happen,” Wilson said.
He believes this experience piqued his interest and helped him realize how achievable his goals were.
“You think you can do it and then you go, 'Hmm, I don't really know,' but it's actually not as hard as you think it is,” Wilson said. “It's still difficult, but please do your best and get through it.”
Okereke, vice president of Henry Ford Health Hospital in Detroit, said he started the program eight years ago in Texas and three years ago in Detroit after seeing students develop confidence and passion for surgery. he told Local 4.
“There aren't a lot of underrepresented people in most areas of medicine, especially surgery. So one of my goals since those days has been to try to introduce surgery to underrepresented high school students as a pipeline program. That was the case,” Okereke said.
The program has three phases. Medical professionals speak at high schools, students practice at hospitals, and summer internships students apply for.
“Seventy-five percent of students admitted to the program are on track to enter medicine, including undergraduate, medical school, and residency,” Okereke said. “I think it's very humbling. I remember when I was in their shoes.”
The hope is that these students will go further than the medical professionals who currently mentor them.
“It may sound like a cliché, but whatever I do for them, they will do ten times as much for me, because it’s about what you do. , because it really shows why you’re doing what you’re doing,” Okereke said. “So I'm very proud of them.”
For more information about the program, please visit: henryford.com.
—> Previous coverage: Henry Ford Health System surgeons launch program to mentor Detroit-area youth
Copyright 2024 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.
