Harlem Med School Opens
By Kibkabé Araya (columbiaspectator.com)
The Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine celebrated its grand opening Monday at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. The college, which is the first medical school to open in New York State in the last 30 years, aims to help underprivileged communities such as Harlem banish health disparities.
“The mission is to increase the number of under-represented minorities in medicine, and to also find non-minorities who want to serve a community like Harlem,” Dr. Martin Diamond, dean of the college, said.
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During the opening ceremony, the current students walked into the theater hand in hand with kindergartners adorned in lab coats. Part of the goal of the college is to reach out to Harlem children and get them involved in medicine at a young age by sending medical students to elementary and middle schools to discuss the benefits of a career in medicine.
Touro College also implemented a seven-year program to recruit diligent high school students with a B+ grade point average and SAT scores of 1700. These students will be awarded scholarships and financial aid to study medicine after graduating high school.
Only 135 students earned a spot in the class of 2011 out of 1800 people who applied to the program. Many students said they applied because they wanted to serve their community. (more…)
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