Stanford Medical Youth Science Program
Rick Nolley Jr. is an emergency medical technician (EMT) who works the streets of Oakland. “I came full circle from where I started,” he says. “You see a lot and it can burn you out, but it’s so rewarding dealing with patients. It’s a way of giving back.” Tenacity and discipline are required in the harrowing workday of an EMT, and Nolley credits a unique Stanford program for accelerating his initial curiosity for a challenging career in the medical field.
Nolley, 34, grew up in east Oakland. In 1990, a tutor at Berkeley High School alerted Nolley, then a sophomore, to the Stanford Medical Youth Science Program (SMYSP), a five-week summer residential biomedical program for high school students from low-income or underserved backgrounds, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. “I was always fascinated with Stanford,” said Nolley. “I was born there, in the hospital, and I was intrigued by the history.”
The SMYSP curriculum, based on science inquiry education, includes hospital internships, anatomy practicums, research projects, faculty lectures, college admissions/standardized test preparation, and long-term college and career guidance. “I enjoyed walking into the hospital and the labs,” said Nolley. “I got the idea of where it starts. This is your foundation. The program really solidified in me that I wanted to be somehow in the medical field, if not a doctor, then something else.” Rick Nolley, Jr. EMT GenNext
Mentoring is a crucial component of SMYSP, with Stanford undergraduates serving as guides to the 24 students admitted annually. “My counselor, Jon Hyman, ’90, had a huge impact on me,” said Nolley. “As an African- American male he shared my background and helped me on my journey. He selected me to head a research group on the medicine of ancient Egypt. Jon and I were exploring a mutual interest and this was one of the levels on which we connected. He went on to Harvard Medical School.”
Nolley also went east for college, to Howard University, where he majored in biology and minored in chemistry. He had his sights on medical school and took MCAT prep classes but got interested in computer networking. “It was becoming big and I started exploring different avenues.”
Nolley returned to the life sciences track and to the Bay Area to pursue a biotech career, working for both start-ups and established companies. “It was all good experience,” he noted, “but I wanted to get back on the medical track and get patient care experience.” He got his EMT certificate.
Serving among first responders in emergency medicine is not for the fainthearted. “The worst was an auto accident up on Skyline Drive in the hills,” recalls Nolley. “A young married couple with an infant less than a month old. The father lost control of the car while the mother was breastfeeding the baby. The car flipped over several times. The baby had major head trauma. We took them to Children’s Hospital in Oakland, but the kid didn’t make it. This was the first time I had seen something like this—and my wife was pregnant with our first child.”
Having now been seasoned by the often brutal reality of EMT service, Nolley is preparing the next phase of his career. He is currently enrolled in a joint master of public health/master of science program in physician assistant studies at Touro University in Vallejo, Calif., which he will complete in 2010. “I will end up in emergency medicine or general surgery. It’s been a winding, twisting road. Medical school is still a dream but with a growing family it would be very difficult. Being a physician’s assistant is a perfect solution. I also want to educate and train students to help underserved populations. Why not give back and help those coming up after us?”
Expanding Diversity
in the Science and
Health Professions
The Stanford Medical Youth Science Program (SMYSP) is a summer, residential, pre-college pipeline program that is dedicated to encouraging low-income high school students to pursue higher education to prepare them for medical and other scientific careers.
“The program was developed to address the changing face of America, and to specifically help shape health professions that reflect the evolving nature of the American population,” said Professor of Medicine Marilyn Winkleby, PhD, MPH. Winkleby stressed the original need is growing in light of increasing health disparities among low-income, ethnic minority, and other medically underserved populations.
“The program is an opportunity in educational equity,” remarked SMYSP Executive Director Judith T. Ned, MEd, EdD. “Education is a right, and not a privilege.”
“We also know where our alums are,” noted Winkleby. “From the very beginning we understood it was essential to track how the program impacted lives. We looked at long-term college and career outcomes.”
“Our students are very committed and persistent in helping us keep contact with past participants,” added Dr. Ned.
Four hundred and seventy-six students have participated in the Stanford Medical Youth Science Program between 1988 and 2008, with 60 percent from underrepresented ethnic minority groups. Twenty-year evaluation data show that 75 percent of African- American, 80 percent of Latino, and 70 percent of Native American participants have earned a four-year college degree (among those admitted to college, and excluding those currently attending college). In contrast, among 25- to 34-year-old California adults, only 16 percent of African-Americans, 8 percent of Latinos, and 10 percent of Native Americans earn a four-year college degree. Among SMYSP’s college graduates, 48 percent are attending or have graduated from medical or graduate school, and 46 percent are working as or training to become health professionals.
For more information on SMYSP, visit: http://smysp.stanford.edu/
To view a 10-minute clip of a video of the program, visit: http://smysp.stanford.edu/news/opportunity.html