The University of Oregon’s Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students is gathering mentees for its new mentorship program, MAP IT OUT. Minh Nguyen, president of UO MAPS, founded the program which aims to “support high school students from underrepresented communities who are interested in pursuing a career in healthcare or science-based research,” according to the program’s website.
The group hopes to serve first-generation students, DACA recipients, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ students, individuals from low income households or those who have physical or mental disabilities, Nguyen said. Participating high school students will attend biweekly check-in meetings with their designated UO student mentors, as well as monthly activities, which include workshops, guest-speaker events and Q&A panels.
“When COVID-19 hit, none of us could have imagined the damage that it all had on us as students,” Nguyen said. “We know that for students from marginalized backgrounds who don’t necessarily have the resources to succeed, this can even be a greater challenge for them and might deter them from entering the STEM profession.”
High school students will have the opportunity to ask their mentors questions about their course work, scientific research and college applications. Chris Garcia, treasurer and outreach team lead for UO MAPS, said one draw for UO students to become mentors for the program is “the feeling of satisfaction that you are helping those before you in a way that nobody did for you.”
He said he wished he had the opportunity to participate in a mentorship program like MAP IT OUT when he was in high school. “If I had someone to tell me or guide me on some four year plan or tips and tricks on the MCAT, I know I would have started things way sooner and I would have definitely been better off now,” Garcia said.
The program is funded by UO’s Division of Equity and Inclusion, Institute of Neuroscience, Institute of Molecular Biology and Department of Biology. Nguyen said funds will be used to purchase shirts for mentees and sponsor program activities. She also hopes that they will be able to offer scholarships to select mentees who take advantage of the program’s activities.
UO MAPS has collaborated with college-preparatory programs Oregon Young Scholars Program and Summer Academy to Inspire Learning to help recruit mentees.
“It’s one of my goals to expose our students to more STEM-related studies, and we have a lot of students who are interested in healthcare fields,” said Barbara Marbury, director of OYSP.
Marbury also serves as the staff advisor for MAP IT OUT, helping the team work through the logistics of working with minors, including policies requiring background checks for mentors and ensuring that no minor is left alone with only one adult at a time, even on Zoom. “Risk management has definitely been one of the biggest obstacles,” Garcia said.
Despite reaching out to over 100 high schools in Oregon, Washington and California, he said recruiting mentees has been unexpectedly difficult. One California high school’s administration wanted volunteers fingerprinted, a process Garcia said was too difficult for the team to pursue during the pandemic.
Despite the challenges the team has faced, they have managed to recruit 20 mentors and more than 10 mentees, he said. They plan to hold a volunteer orientation, program kick-off meeting and create mentor-mentee pairings in the coming weeks.
“As an organization,” Nguyen said, “we could raise enough resources and gather enough interested volunteers that when we come together we can create a substantial force that’s enough to make a difference for these students.”
Minh Nguyen, shown here, is the president of the Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students, or MAPS. The Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students, or MAPS, is starting a new mentor program, Map It Out. The program pairs UO STEM majors with high school students from marginalized backgrounds who have an interest in going into STEM fields at the University of Oregon, and helps to connect students with professionals and scholarship opportunities. (Will Geschke/Emerald)
