To cultivate a more robust pipeline for Radiology, the department designed the Diversity Visiting Student Acting Internship which provides 4th-year medical students from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine and radiology with exposure to Radiology through a summer rotation.
This pipeline initiative engages underrepresented minorities in the field of Radiology and helps diversify the medical field by increasing the representation of and the opportunities for underserved communities. During this rotation, students are paired with a faculty and resident mentor and assigned to divisions of their choice. They have daily conferences, online modules, and telehealth visits. Lastly, they receive guidance on all aspects of the application process from the personal statement to the interviews. Due to the COVID19 pandemic the internship has remained virtual, but the in-person course when it resumes will provide living accommodations and a stipend at the completion of the course.
In 2021, Christine Nwoke, OMS4 at Lincoln Memorial University-DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Simone Raiter, MS4 at Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science, were selected as acting interns. Previous Acting Interns include Dr. Joseph A. Adedigba, PGY1 Resident at Tulane University, Dr. Jacqueline Koomson, PGY0 at Emory University, and Dr. Jolie Jean, PGY0 at Weill Cornell Medicine.
The Design and Preliminary Experience
In the spring, “The Design and Preliminary Experience with a Virtual Diversity Visiting Student Acting Internship in Radiology for Underrepresented Minority Medical Students” was published in Academic Radiology. Authored by many of the faculty involved in the program, the article speaks to the impact of the program on attitudes toward the field of Radiology as well as its contribution to diversifying the resident applicant pool.
Since its publication, the Diversity Visiting Student Acting Internship Program has been emulated nationwide by University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center's Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Radiology, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences’ MD Program, among others.
