Summer Health Professions Education Program (SHPEP)

What is the Summer Health Professions Education Program? 

The Summer Health Professions Education Program (SHPEP) is a free summer enrichment hybrid program for first and second-year college students interested in exploring a career in the health professions. SHPEP’s goal is to strengthen the academic proficiency and career development of students and prepare them for a successful application and matriculation to health professional schools.

 

SHPEP at the University of Louisville

The summer of 2025 will mark the 20th year of the SHPEP program at the University of Louisville. SHPEP at UofL introduces prospective medical, dental, nursing, and pharmacy scholars to the academic rigors of health professions education. Scholars will use team-based learning to integrate and apply the basic and social sciences centered on two major themes: Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease. Scholars will also work in inter-professional collaborative teams to develop and implement treatment plans with dental/medical/nursing/pharmacy applications.

Hybrid Program Dates

Virtual dates: Monday, June 2 - Friday, June 13; In-person dates: June 16 - July 11.

It is important to note, that scholars must be available to attend the full six weeks of the program. The majority of the program will take place during the day; however, there will be some evening and weekend program activities.

Read about some of our scholar experiences here!

UofL SHPEP Program provides scholars with a variety of academic and professional experiences such as: 

  • Introduction to Biomedical Sciences (Scholars will attend classes in Organic Chemistry, Physiology, and Biochemistry)
  • Guided hands-on activities
  • Academic and Career Advising
  • Exposure to Health Equity and Policy
  • Shadowing opportunities
  • Simulation labs
  • Team-Based Learning modules and application
  • Access to the University of Louisville Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health & Information Sciences, and Sullivan University College of Pharmacy
  • Career Exploration workshops
  • Personal Development workshops
  • Networking opportunities
  • And more!


Application

Applications to the SHPEP program open on November 1st and close on February 5th. Please use the following link to access the online application system: https://www.shpep.org/school/university-of-louisville/

Eligibility


  • Must be a high school graduate and currently enrolled as a first- or second-year student in college/university.
  • Have a minimum overall college GPA of 2.5.
  • Be a U.S. citizen, a permanent resident, or an individual granted deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) status by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
  • Must not have previously participated in the program.

 


Other factors for consideration include:                           

  • Lives, or has lived in, a rural/medically underserved community;
  • Comes from an economically or educationally disadvantaged background; and/or
  • Has demonstrated an interest in issues affecting underserved populations.
  • Submits a compelling personal statement and a strong letter of recommendation.


Program Contacts:

Jessi Duff Lord,

Please email  with any questions.

 

UofL SHPEP 2025 Information Sessions

These 60-minute information sessions will cover in-depth information for SHPEP 2025 at the University of Louisville and includes information for scholars' Q&A. Register for information sessions here.

Please direct all questions to .

SHPEP Student Development Assistant (SDA) Position

Student Development Assistant Information – Summer of 2025

The 2025 Summer Health Professions Education Program (SHPEP) will be a six-week hybrid program that supports 80 pre-health scholars interested in dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, and medicine. The primary goal of SHPEP is to strengthen the academic proficiency and career development of students and prepare them for a successful application and matriculation to health professions schools. The Student Development Assistants (SDAs) will play a vital role in helping to obtain the aforementioned goals, and the overall success and support of the program and participants.

Student Development Assistants must be willing to serve as a role model, mentor, and advisor to student participants. The SDA role/team serves as an imperative piece of the successful implementation of SHPEP programming and scholar experience.

Below you will find the SDA Interest Form link and the detailed list of duties. The SDA selection process will end in February 2025.

Application Link: https://forms.office.com/r/Tc3Zt1Cy39

 

 Supervision and Communication

  • Serve as the first point of contact for participants, i.e., manage scholar GroupMe, disseminate information, assist with connecting scholars to available resources, etc.
  • Track scholar attendance during all sessions and track attendance during bus transportation
  • Reach out to scholars if they are late or absent from a session and/or designated meeting time
  • Assist scholars with course content, technical challenges, and responding to scholar requests
  • Serve as chaperones on weekend activities, service events, bus rides, etc.
  • Enforce program rules/regulations/restrictions

Mentorship

  • Support and foster relationships between scholars within the cohort and the SDA team
  • Help supervise, tutor, and mentor a group of ten scholars through the cluster system
  • Be willing to talk about your journey to your health professional program
  • Attend all programmatic components
  • Serve as tutors during scheduled group study times and ensure scholars understand information learned during classes (it is critical for SDAs to attend classes with the scholars)

 Programming

  • Plan social activities for participants, and lead at least one small group activity per week
  • Have icebreakers or activities ready when presenters cancel or running late
  • Suggest and assist with optional programming initiatives (i.e., mock interviews, volunteer opportunities, study session, etc.)

 Administrative Duties

  • Assist with scholar registration, check in and out
  • Monitor participants to check for health issues; transport to emergency/urgent care centers if needed
  • Serve in an on-call rotation
  • Report scholar misconduct
  • Communicate with the SHPEP Leadership team when/if issues arise
  • Assist with orientation activities and course content
  • Help support scholars in their engagement in the program
  • Any other duties the SHPEP Leadership team deems would be beneficial to add to help with the impact and integrity of the program
  • Other duties as assigned

Required Experience

  • Has received or will receive a baccalaureate degree prior to June 1, 2024
  • Must be entering or attending a health professional school (i.e. dentistry, medicine, nursing, or pharmacy) and/or taking a gap with the intention of attending a health professional school
  • Able to support the program for the full duration
  • Enthusiast about mentoring and supporting scholars and the SHPEP Program

Preferred Experience (consideration is still given to those without preferred experience)

  • Entering or finishing the first year of health professional school
  • Participant of a summer pipeline program (i.e. SHPEP/SMDEP, MCAT-DAT, PEPP, Gear Up, etc.)
  • Identify as underrepresented in the health professions (i.e., live in a rural/medically underserved community, economic/educationally disadvantaged background, and/or an interest in issues affecting marginalized populations).