OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — The University of Oklahoma is set to receive a $16 million federal grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The grant will be used to recruit, retain, and graduate medical students from tribal, rural, and medically underserved communities in Oklahoma.
The initiative, “The Tribal, Rural, and Medically Underserved Communities in Oklahoma Pathways Program” (TRU-OK), will be directed by the OU College of Medicine in Oklahoma City, and the OU-TU School of Community Medicine in Tulsa.
Mary Gowin, Ph.D., MPH, and associate professor at the OU College of Medicine said, “We rank 47th in the nation in terms of primary care access, and we have two counties in the whole state that are not classified as primary care health profession shortage areas, so really, this is so vital”.
To increase the primary care workforce in TRU-OK areas, there are plans to address barriers students face to entering medical school.
The initiative will create an online pre-medical program to give students tools and resources to support their application to medical school, such as study materials and interview preparation resources.
Frances K. Wen, Ph.D., and Director of Research for the Department of Family and Community Medicine, OU-TU, said “Some of the students who come from tribal, rural, and underserved communities are first-generation college students, let alone first-generation entering into a health professional school. They may discover later on in their trajectory that this is something that they’re really interested in and excited about, and the pre-medical program allows them to explore and prepare themselves for a career in medicine”.
The project also supports financial need through scholarships for students from tribal, rural, and medically underserved communities to attend medical school at OU.
Other means of financial support include stipends for participation in primary care research experiences and travel to primary care conferences.
The team is also working with several academic, tribal, and hospital partners to facilitate expanded opportunities for students to gain experience, such as opportunities to do rotations and clerkships and electives in underserved areas across Oklahoma.
“We just love that the acronym TRU-OK is able to really reflect what we feel, which is that this is truly for Oklahoma, and we feel really proud of being able to be a part of a program that’s aimed at helping all of Oklahoma”. Gowin said.
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