Our Mission

Our program is offered through the Health Sciences Center Office of Diversity and Inclusion. As our patient population becomes more diverse, it's important to have health professionals that reflect the population and provide health equity for everyone. 

Kentucky has 120 counties and approximately 80 of them are health professional shortage areas (HPSA) http://hpsafind.hrsa.gov/.  There are numerous counties without hospitals or specialists, requiring its residents to drive to the cities of Louisville, Lexington, etc., which in many cases are miles and hours away.

It's not just a Kentucky issue.  Nationwide there are rural and urban medically under-served areas, whether it be entire counties or portions of counties, that do not have enough health care providers to meet the health care needs of their population. There's a need for more specialist in medically under served areas to help improve the quality of life and access to health care for its residents.The need for more primary care physicians (Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Med-Peds and Pediatrics) continues to grown nationally.  These physicians serve as the first point of contact for most patients and through them referrals are made to specialists when necessary.

There are numerous Area Health Education Centers or AHECs throughout the United States diligently working to help remedy this situation.  There are numerous post-bac pre-med and pre-professional programs with the same mission.

Our program has a linkage with the University of Louisville School of Medicine granting assured admission  for our students who meet the requirements.  We are developing competitive applicants for medical school consideration in Kentucky, throughout the United States and abroad.  Our ultimate goal is for our students to matriculate to medical school and become the physician they always wanted to be.