Pathway Programs

Educación Primero
Educación Primero is an early education outreach program that exposes elementary school students to topics in health and science. Medical students meet monthly with 4th and 5th graders at Eastman Elementary School in East Los Angeles, planting seeds of interest in higher education and encouraging them to strive for excellence. Medical students present informative sessions about health matters that directly affect the communities where the participants live. The program culminates with “Graduation Day at Keck” for the elementary students.

Tom Bradley Mini Medical School
Tom Bradley Mini Medical School is an outreach program that aims to expose elementary school students to medical and scientific information in an effort to stimulate their interest in medicine and higher education. Once a month, medical student volunteers visit the Tom Bradley Global Awareness Magnet School in South Los Angeles and provide 4th and 5th graders with an active and experiential science-based learning opportunity. The program culminates with “Graduation Day at Keck” for the elementary students.

Hippocrates Circle Program
The Hippocrates Circle Program inspires youth from disadvantaged backgrounds to pursue careers in medicine. This initiative is accomplished through the collaborative efforts of local school districts, medical schools, physicians from the Southern California Permanente Medical Group, and Kaiser Permanente sponsorship. Medical students facilitate mini-medical workshops and serve as speakers and campus tour guides. Visit the Kaiser website for more information.

USC Med-COR Program
The Medical Counseling, Organizing, and Recruiting program (Med-COR) seeks to increase the pool of high school students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are committed to pursuing health professional careers. The program supports students and prepares them academically to be competitive for admission to colleges and universities nationwide. Through education and co-curricular experiences, Med-COR encourages and motivates students to commit themselves to careers in health. Med-COR has served the greater Los Angeles community for over 50 years and produced countless medical and health professionals. Visit the Med-COR website for more information.

Bridging the Gaps
Bridging the Gaps Summer Research Program is a bench-to-bedside experience that provides an enriching educational research opportunity to outstanding undergraduate students pursuing careers as physicians (MD), physician-scientists (MD/PhD), and biomedical scientists (PhD). BTG scholars conduct cutting-edge research for 8 weeks in the Keck School of Medicine faculty laboratories. Students are provided with basic science, translational, and clinical research experiences. The summer session culminates with students presenting their research findings to the KSOM community at large. Visit the BTG website for more information. Visit the Bridging the Gaps website for more information

Keck PREP Scholars
The Keck PREP Scholars program is a health career preparation program for undergraduate students at USC. This longitudinal program employs a comprehensive approach to support pre-health students’ academic success and professional goals. Founded on the four key principles of preparation, retention, education, and purpose, Keck PREP provides students with a personalized approach to preparing for careers in medicine and healthcare; cultivates an environment conducive to sustaining students on the pre-health track; offers academic support to encourage student success in pre-health education; and inspires students to find their role and purpose as future healthcare professionals. Visit the Keck PREP Scholars website for more information.

Keck Mentoring Collective

The Keck Mentoring Collective (KMC) is a unique program housed in the Office of Student Engagement and Cultural Affairs at the Keck School of Medicine of USC (KSOM). It is a proud collaboration between multiple student groups at KSOM, including our local chapters of Latino Medical Student Association, Student National Medical Association, Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association, and our First-Gen in Medicine Group. In partnership, these KSOM students understand the pivotal role of mentoring, particularly for students underrepresented in medicine, and recognize the extraordinary talent and potential for future healthcare professionals in our own backyard. Thus, KMC offers mentoring and programming to students from three cohorts  – Keck PREP (undergraduate students at USC), East Los Angeles College, and Cal State LA. The students are all high-achieving undergrads, who are predominantly first in their families to attend college.

Summer Program in Diabetes and Obesity Research (SPIDOR)
SPIDOR is a 10-week summer research experience that provides outstanding students in science and medicine with an opportunity to gain meaningful exposure to the exceptional research and clinical programs at the Keck School of Medicine (KSOM) of USC. Summer scholars conduct cutting-edge research in the laboratories of faculty members from the USC Diabetes and Obesity Research Institute (DORI). They are exposed to basic science, translational, and clinical research experiences. The summer session culminates with students presenting their research findings to the KSOM community. Visit the SPIDOR website for more information.

USC PA Pathway Program
The USC PA Pipeline Program exposes participants to an array of health careers. Students from the Primary Care PA Program at USC support and mentor through the USC PA Pipeline Program. Visit the USC PA Pipeline Program website for more information.

USC Summer Radiology Research Program
Sponsored by the Radiology Department at the Keck School of Medicine, the USC Summer Radiology Research Program provides current USC undergraduates with an opportunity to engage in research and learn more about radiology. The program includes didactic lectures, mentoring, and shadowing opportunities with radiology faculty. Contact Tricia Barrow (tbarrow@usc.edu) for more information.