It’s a way to nurture students’ interest in the healthcare profession, and for many, it will be a once-in-a lifetime opportunity.

High school students in the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools are taking part in a program called Connecting Kansas Kids with Medical Student Mentors. The program is being administered by Kathy Davis, Ph.D., pediatric education coordinator and project manager of Connected Kansas Kids in cooperation with YouthFriends.

Through the program, 127 high school students in the Health Sciences Small Learning Communities at Sumner Academy of Arts and Science, J.C. Harmon, F.L. Schlagle, Washington and Wyandotte high schools and from several other schools throughout the state, will be paired up with medical students from the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) for a six-week e-mentoring program.

Davis said the idea for the program stemmed from an interactive televideo broadcast program that she offered last year. That program, transmitted into nearly 50 classrooms throughout Kansas, featured healthcare providers giving presentations to high school students. The success of the program left teachers wanting more, and one teacher thought it would be great to pair up students with doctors. Because doctors’ schedules are so full with faculty responsibilities and mentoring medical students, Davis decided to try another angle: medical students. She sent an e-mail to second, third and fourth year medical students at KUMC proposing the idea, and to her surprise, she received 127 positive responses.

“I was amazed at the quantity and quality of responses I received. They were very enthusiastic,” Davis said. “Many medical students said it was an excellent idea and they wished that they had had this type of opportunity when they were in high school.”

Davis said the program will include a structured curriculum with topics of focus including how to write a resume, how to investigate careers in healthcare, the challenges and rewards of medical school, how to fill out a college application, and more.

Though it will mainly be an e-mail program, Davis said some face to face interactive televideo meetings will take place as well, depending on individual schedules. And some students may have additional opportunities to visit KUMC and engage in other learning activities there. All communication will take place through a secured website, and Davis will receive copies of all correspondence for monitoring purposes.

Pre and post evaluation will be conducted for the program to measure the success and to gain feedback from participants. The program will kick off in early 2008.