PULLMAN, Wash. – Interactive workshops, networking and application help for students – particularly students of color – interested in health care careers will be offered when the nationwide Tour4Diversity in Medicine visits Washington State University on Friday, Oct. 23.
The conference will be 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. in the CUB auditorium. The cost is $5 and includes lunch. Register at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/t4d-washington-state-university-tickets-18114098757?ref=ebtn.
The Health Professions Student Center at WSU is the local host of the conference. For more information, contact director Donald Allison, 509-335-4549 or donald.allison@wsu.edu.
The tour is a volunteer initiative developed by two young physicians to educate, inspire and cultivate the next generation of minorities in medicine, dentistry and pharmacy. Visiting three universities in three days, 11 doctors, dentists, pre-health advisors and medical school students from across the country will provide free interactive workshops to local college students.
Although African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans comprise more than 31.5 percent of the U.S. population, they represent 8.9 percent of practicing physicians and five percent of dentists, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). However, research shows that patients who receive care from doctors of the same background are more satisfied and engaged in their care.
“The tour connects us to students who are at the very beginning stages of a path to medicine,” said Alden Landry, tour co-founder and emergency medicine physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. “We’re here to motivate future minority physicians and equip them with helpful tools.”
The tour will visit Portland State University on Oct. 22 and University of Washington on Oct. 24.
Learn more at http://tour4diversity.org.