A. Brief Summary This Northeast Regional Alliance (NERA), established with HCOP funding in 2008, seeks HCOP Comprehensive Priority Funding to support its partnership of 3 medical schools located in New York City NY, and Newark NJ - Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS), and the Manhattan - Staten Island Area Health Education Center (MSI AHEC). NERA responds to the national concern to increase the number of individuals from disadvantaged (DA) groups to successfully matriculate and graduate from medical school. A unique curriculum supports Grade 11 & 12 groups in science, mathematics and language arts enrichment, and health careers exploration; the Collegiate programs include a common curriculum across Alliance sites, with focus on science enrichment, MCAT Prep, medical school application preparation, community-based primary healthcare exposures, and biomedical research; the medical school component focuses on retention - with a Pre-matriculation Prep Program and preparation for USMLE. Since the inception of the 3-level summer NERA Program 1,096 NERA collegiate participants are in the NERA pipeline, and 583 students have graduated from our NERA program. Three hundred and twenty-one (321) graduates who applied, have been accepted to medical school; 131 to graduate health professions programs, 14 to PhD programs. One hundred and seventy-five (175) of our NERA graduates have completed medical school and have begun residency programs, 77 of them joined the healthcare workforce with another 12 poised to finish residency programs in 2024. Another 18 NERA Alumni will begin residency programs in summer 2023. Our structured programs have fully achieved previously proposed objectives. We consistently build on our successes, using ongoing evaluation and assessments to inform program modifications and innovations. B. Specific Objectives, Meth
odology, and Evaluation Recruitment: Our Outreach manager oversees efforts to increase DA applicants to NERA medical schools by 5% over 5 years through targeted outreach to Pre-Health Advisors and case management. Facilitating Entry: Each year, 50 DA college students increase MCAT performance through participation in a 6-week MCAT Prep program. Preliminary Education: Each year, 50 DA college students take enriched science skills courses to bolster academic performance in college and curricula to enhance competence in culture, behavioral and public health and opioid abuse. Retention: Each year, 30 DA medical students are retained through institutionalized educational support and 100% of all DA students graduate within 5 years. Financial Aid Dissemination: Each year, 50 college students and 98 high school students receive information on financing medical school education. Primary Care Exposure: Each year, 50 DA students explore health careers in six-week summer community primary care/hospital internship programs. Virtual course options are available through Body Interact Virtual Simulation and Research Methods courses. Competitive Applicant Pool: Each year, 98 DA high school students take part in academic enrichment, career exploration, academic year and summer courses to bolster academic performance and cultural competence. Evaluation: Our Program Evaluator accesses our web-based system to collect data to systematically assess the impact on short and long-term outcomes and uses RCQI to inform program modifications. Our Case Manager mentors, provides retention activities to monitors our students' progress. Reports are aligned for semi-annual HRSA EHB performance reporting.