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A new agreement with a Big Ten medical school gives an advantage to ������-Dearborn students who have their sights set on a career in a medical field. 

Michigan State University College of Human Medicine recently welcomed ������-Dearborn into its Early Assurance Program (MSU CHM EAP), which is an effort to increase diversity in medical school applicants and in health fields. 

But what exactly does this mean for ������-Dearborn students?

The students who apply and are admitted into the MSU CHM EAP will have tailored academic advising focused on admission to MSU’s College of Human Medicine and may apply early to that medical school. The program — which will have informational sessions on campus this fall and will begin accepting applications Jan. 1 — has the potential to double the number of ������-Dearborn students who study medicine at MSU.

Interim Vice Provost for Enrollment Management Mitchel Sollenberger says ������-Dearborn has a positive reputation when it comes to preparing candidates. Currently, ������-Dearborn alumni are at all seven medical schools in Michigan and in medical school programs throughout the nation.

And many of those students — who are first-generation college students, speak English as a second language and are PELL-grant eligible — are focused on serving underrepresented groups when they graduate.

“Our students, many of who are committed to underserved or health inequities in the state of Michigan, now have this opportunity to compete for and be admitted early to a medical school that has the same mission,” he says. “The agreement speaks to the outstanding academic quality of our students but also to the type of student we have at ������-Dearborn, students that closely align to MSU CHM’s mission and commitment to the state of Michigan.”

Health Professions Adviser Tahnee Prokopow says ������-Dearborn has worked with MSU for years — MSU CHM Admissions Counselor Brian Ulrich visits annually and has a campus visit scheduled from 1 to 3 p.m. Oct. 11 in the Univeersity Center's Room 1225 — but this is the first formal agreement with the university.

And Prokopow — who’s worked in academic medicine for 20 years — says that speaks volumes about the caliber of ������-Dearborn’s pre-med students.

“People from a variety backgrounds seek healthcare. So it is important to have diversity — in culture, finances and education — in your health care professionals. MSU CHM gets it. When there is diversity and the different types of thinking and experience that comes with it, patients are better served. And, ultimately, that is the goal: Providing the best care possible.”