Project MED won the first U7+ Alliance of World Universities Student Challenge in France. The student organization focuses on educating and preparing high school students for healthcare careers, particularly from underrepresented groups.
A group of Northwestern students just took home a major award for their sustainability-driven presentation.
Project MED, a group that seeks to prepare high school students from underrepresented groups for careers in health care, won the first annual U7+ Alliance of World Universities Student Challenge.
Organized by France’s École Polytechnique, the proposal competition asked student groups to submit projects that would address sustainable development through the use of technology and innovation. All four participating schools were members of the U7+ Alliance, which is a coalition of university presidents that aims to define what universities can do to address global challenges together with governments.
Irene Quan, Weinberg’s junior, director and founder of the organization, said the group emphasized its MEDLaunch database in addition to workshops and mentorships as a way to expand the accessibility of health care opportunities. Students can use the database to find opportunities related to research, volunteering, shadowing, and more.
The students’ unique insight into the idea of sustainability helped them stand out, he said.
“Usually (sustainability) is used to talk about the environment and things like climate change and ways to combat it,” Quan said. “But for us, sustainability means not only being able to use technology, but also creating a different solution for communities to create change without other people constantly helping them.”
The students founded ProjectMED last year.
According to Weinberg Junior and Executive Director Emily Lam, Project MED was formed because student leaders realized the privileges they had in pursuing health care careers that others lacked.
Lam pointed to the NU Medical Education Honors Program, a seven-year BA/MD program that allowed students to enter medical school directly, which was canceled after more than 60 years due to equity concerns. She said the program generally supported students who already had opportunities in the health field from a young age.
“That led to a lot of reflection on ourselves in the program and recognizing that we can serve as bridges to connect students who come from underserved high schools,” Lam said. “We can connect them with Northwestern and other resource-rich institutions where they can access like we did when we were high school students.”
Quan described Project MED’s mission as two-fold: expose high school students to the depth and breadth of healthcare opportunities and prepare them for successful careers within those fields.
Working with students and partner organizations in the Chicago area, Weinberg CEO and junior Rishi Jain said he found a diversity of perspectives that he valued.
“I’m from the Bay Area, so the demographics (in Chicago) are definitely very different,” Jain said. “Working with students who had very different life paths and perspectives than mine has been truly eye-opening and sobering.”
An additional challenge has been learning to manage the differences between the schools, Jain said. Factors such as student backgrounds and funding affected how Project MED presents curriculum and communicates with students.
The work has been instrumental in developing their own awareness as future doctors, Jain said.
“As a practicing physician, the people you meet, the comfort levels they have and the confidence they feel will vary greatly,” Jain said. “Having patience and giving them a space for them to share and for us to listen is very important. It has definitely been something that in the back of our minds is helping us prepare to be more holistic doctors.”
Lam said she hopes winning the student challenge will help Project MED establish more legitimacy by gaining the trust of the high schools they want to partner with.
Weinberg Executive and Junior Member Nikhil Sriram said he believes the organization’s ability to build trusted relationships with its community partners is one reason they won the challenge.
He said he hopes Project MED will not only grow throughout the Chicagoland area, but also expand student engagement at NU.
“We have definitely shown that we are a serious group, informed and passionate about what we do,” said Sriram. “I hope that winning these challenges is a further reflection of that.”
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