{"id":536,"date":"2015-11-20T15:59:28","date_gmt":"2015-11-20T23:59:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T18:35:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T02:35:48","slug":"for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\/","title":{"rendered":"For minority students who dream of being doctors, \u2018Keck is where you want to be\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n \n
\n \n
\n\n \n Press Release<\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
\n\n \n

For minority students who dream of being doctors, \u2018Keck is where you want to be\u2019<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
\n \u00a0Amanda Busick<\/span>\n \n November 20, 2015<\/span>\n <\/div>\n \n \n
\n\n \n
<\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div>
<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n \n
\n\n \n \n \n
\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n
Djani Robertson, a first-year medical student at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, was a 2014 Bridging the Gaps participant during his time as an undergraduate student at Rutgers.<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n \n \n \n\n<\/div>\n \n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\r\n\r\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n \n
\n \n
\n\n \n

Attending medical school can seem like a pipe dream for many students, particularly minorities, but the Bridging the Gaps Summer Research Program at the Keck School of Medicine of USC can turn that dream into a reality.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Richey-file\"
Joyce Richey has directed Bridging the Gaps since its inception.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

[fusion_separator top_margin=”0″][\/fusion_separator]
\nOne program participant, Vanessa Arientyl, studied how oxytocin affected social behavior in mice.
\n\u201cIt was nice learning how to really build a project from the beginning. I got to learn how research really works, collect the data and present it,\u201d recalled Arientyl, who is now a second-year medical student at the Keck School.
\nArientyl is one of six Keck School medical students from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J.
\n\u201cWe have created a pipeline with Rutgers; each year we\u2019ve had two students from Rutgers,\u201d says Richey with a smile. \u201cIt had been difficult to pull students from back east here, and now, with this particular institution, it\u2019s almost an unwritten goal: \u2018Keck is where you want to be.\u2019
\nBridging the Gaps students attend weekly seminars that benefit not only their current research but also their futures in the medical field. Students conduct research in a variety of disciplines, some of which include metabolic diseases, oncology, cardiovascular, neuroscience, immunology and stem cell.
\n\u201cThe program has created a powerful national recruitment network among participants. Many of the students come from historically black colleges and universities, such as Xavier, Spelman and Morehouse, as well as Ivy League institutions such as Harvard and Cornell. They all return to their home institutions encouraging classmates to apply to the program, or the Keck School in general, because of their incredible experiences over the summer,\u201d Richey said.
\nAnother Rutgers recruit is Djani Robertson. He was a 2014 program participant and is currently a first-year medical student at the Keck School. He says not all of the benefits were from working in the lab, where his research involved children with congenital adrenal hypoplasia.
\n\u201cI enjoyed the whole program, because even though we did research most of the day, we still got to network with other physicians, and they had students talk to us about what medical school is like,\u201d Robertson said.
\n

\"Vanessa
Vanessa Arientyl is now a second-year medical student at the Keck School.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nArientyl also said the program was about more than just lab work.
\n\u201cOne of the best parts of the experience had to be the people that I met in the program,\u201d she said. \u201cI still talk to those people today\u2026 the friendships I built here are my favorite.\u201d
\nIt\u2019s not just students who benefit, Richey said, noting that 80 percent of mentors have been with the program from the beginning.
\n\u201cThese students are highly motivated,\u201d said Richard Watanabe, PhD, professor, preventive medicine, physiology and biophysics, who has been a mentor every summer since 2011. \u201cIt\u2019s been a real pleasure to interact with them. You get the sense they have a real sense of responsibility and purpose, which makes mentoring them that much more satisfying.\u201d
\nWatanabe also noted another Bridging the Gaps benefit, this one to the Keck School itself: \u201cLike many universities, we have serious problems when it comes to under-represented minority students in the STEM fields.\u201d
\nWatanabe feels kinship with Bridging the Gaps participants.
\n\u201cI feel my own personal journey parallels many of the students in this program,\u201d he said. \u201cI like to think that if my participation in the program helps to bring one additional under-represented minority student to USC or helps others get into programs at other institutions, then it was worth my time and investment.\u201d
\nIte Laird-Offringa, associate dean of graduate studies at USC and another mentor who has been with Bridging the Gaps since its inception, has similar feelings.
\n\u201cI get tremendous satisfaction from the growth I see in our summer interns, with respect to knowledge they gain, the joy they experience in the lab setting, and the expanded vision they will take back to their universities as they continue their studies,\u201d Laird-Offringa said.
\n\u201cWe aim to pick an area that hits home with the student and interface that with a clinical experience,\u201d said fellow mentor Alicia McDonough, PhD, professor of cell and neurobiology.
\nApplications for summer 2016 are being accepted through Feb. 12, 2016.
\nFor Arientyl, the dream is almost realized. Soon enough, she\u2019ll be working as a third-year medical student at Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center.
\n\u201cI am excited for third-year, to spend time in County, to spend time in other hospitals, and just learn what the actual parts of being a physician are,\u201d Arientyl said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":537,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[38,603,61,394,57],"class_list":["post-536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release","tag-administrative","tag-department-of-physiology-and-neuroscience","tag-education","tag-inclusive-excellence","tag-recent"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFor minority students who dream of being doctors, \u2018Keck is where you want to be\u2019<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"For minority students who dream of being doctors, \u2018Keck is where you want to be\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KECKschoolUSC\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-20T23:59:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-03T02:35:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Bridging-the-Gaps_Djani.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"447\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"\u00a0Amanda Busick\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@KeckSchool_USC\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@KeckSchool_USC\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\u00a0Amanda Busick\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/637cf9ab84c8ab33bc391a8a7b9ec082\"},\"headline\":\"For minority students who dream of being doctors, \u2018Keck is where you want to be\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-20T23:59:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-03T02:35:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":15,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/68\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/Bridging-the-Gaps_Djani.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Administrative\",\"Department of Physiology and Neuroscience\",\"Education\",\"Inclusive Excellence\",\"Recent\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Press Release\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\\\/\",\"name\":\"For minority students who dream of being doctors, \u2018Keck is where you want to be\u2019\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/68\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/Bridging-the-Gaps_Djani.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-20T23:59:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-03T02:35:48+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/68\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/Bridging-the-Gaps_Djani.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/68\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/Bridging-the-Gaps_Djani.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":447,\"caption\":\"Djani Robertson, a first-year medical student at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, was a 2014 Bridging the Gaps participant during his time as an undergraduate student at Rutgers.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"For minority students who dream of being doctors, \u2018Keck is where you want to be\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Keck School of Medicine of USC\",\"alternateName\":\"Keck School of Medicine\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/68\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/keck-school-of-medicine-logo-696-square.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/68\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/keck-school-of-medicine-logo-696-square.jpg\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"Keck School of Medicine of USC\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/KECKschoolUSC\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/KeckSchool_USC\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/school\\\/keckschoolusc\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/KeckSchoolUSC\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCpL1E1W5ZTfkc5iihwLSFEA\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tiktok.com\\\/@keckschoolusc\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/637cf9ab84c8ab33bc391a8a7b9ec082\",\"name\":\"\u00a0Amanda Busick\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/242c7623482d71d4b8864d2f62384a4fc3d652c8b99dd9fc49ce0204f32931fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/242c7623482d71d4b8864d2f62384a4fc3d652c8b99dd9fc49ce0204f32931fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/242c7623482d71d4b8864d2f62384a4fc3d652c8b99dd9fc49ce0204f32931fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"\u00a0Amanda Busick\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/author\\\/amanda_busick\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"For minority students who dream of being doctors, \u2018Keck is where you want to be\u2019","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"For minority students who dream of being doctors, \u2018Keck is where you want to be\u2019","og_url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\/","og_site_name":"Newsroom","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KECKschoolUSC\/","article_published_time":"2015-11-20T23:59:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-03T02:35:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":447,"url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Bridging-the-Gaps_Djani.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"\u00a0Amanda Busick","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@KeckSchool_USC","twitter_site":"@KeckSchool_USC","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\/"},"author":{"name":"\u00a0Amanda Busick","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/637cf9ab84c8ab33bc391a8a7b9ec082"},"headline":"For minority students who dream of being doctors, \u2018Keck is where you want to be\u2019","datePublished":"2015-11-20T23:59:28+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-03T02:35:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\/"},"wordCount":15,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Bridging-the-Gaps_Djani.jpg","keywords":["Administrative","Department of Physiology and Neuroscience","Education","Inclusive Excellence","Recent"],"articleSection":["Press Release"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\/","url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\/","name":"For minority students who dream of being doctors, \u2018Keck is where you want to be\u2019","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Bridging-the-Gaps_Djani.jpg","datePublished":"2015-11-20T23:59:28+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-03T02:35:48+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Bridging-the-Gaps_Djani.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Bridging-the-Gaps_Djani.jpg","width":600,"height":447,"caption":"Djani Robertson, a first-year medical student at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, was a 2014 Bridging the Gaps participant during his time as an undergraduate student at Rutgers."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/for-minority-students-who-dream-of-being-doctors-keck-is-where-you-want-to-be\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"For minority students who dream of being doctors, \u2018Keck is where you want to be\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/","name":"Newsroom","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#organization","name":"Keck School of Medicine of USC","alternateName":"Keck School of Medicine","url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/keck-school-of-medicine-logo-696-square.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/keck-school-of-medicine-logo-696-square.jpg","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"Keck School of Medicine of USC"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KECKschoolUSC\/","https:\/\/x.com\/KeckSchool_USC","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/school\/keckschoolusc\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/KeckSchoolUSC\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCpL1E1W5ZTfkc5iihwLSFEA","https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@keckschoolusc"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/637cf9ab84c8ab33bc391a8a7b9ec082","name":"\u00a0Amanda Busick","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/242c7623482d71d4b8864d2f62384a4fc3d652c8b99dd9fc49ce0204f32931fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/242c7623482d71d4b8864d2f62384a4fc3d652c8b99dd9fc49ce0204f32931fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/242c7623482d71d4b8864d2f62384a4fc3d652c8b99dd9fc49ce0204f32931fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"\u00a0Amanda Busick"},"url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/author\/amanda_busick\/"}]}},"author_meta":{"display_name":"\u00a0Amanda Busick","author_link":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/author\/amanda_busick\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Bridging-the-Gaps_Djani-300x224.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/category\/press-release\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Press Release<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Press Release<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/category\/press-release\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Administrative<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/category\/press-release\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Department of Physiology and Neuroscience<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/category\/press-release\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Education<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/category\/press-release\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Inclusive Excellence<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/category\/press-release\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Recent<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Administrative<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Department of Physiology and Neuroscience<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Education<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Inclusive Excellence<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Recent<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 11 years ago","modified":"Updated 10 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on November 20, 2015","modified":"Updated on January 2, 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on November 20, 2015 3:59 pm","modified":"Updated on January 2, 2026 6:35 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"Djani Robertson, a first-year medical student at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, was a 2014 Bridging the Gaps participant during his time as an undergraduate student at Rutgers.","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}