The Summer Medical and Dental Education Program is an ongoing national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). It is a free, six-week intensive academic enrichment summer program to help qualified undergraduate students from racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in medicine and dentistry, and those from economically or educationally disadvantaged backgrounds, compete successfully for medical and dental school admission.

The Summer Medical and Dental Education Program is the third iteration of a summer enrichment program launched by RWJF in 1987 under the name Minority Medical Education Program. The first iteration focused on helping pre-med students only and limited eligibility to African Americans, Mexican Americans, Native Americans and mainland Puerto Ricans.

In 2003, RWJF expanded eligibility to pre-med students disadvantaged by socioeconomic status and other factors and renamed the program the Summer Medical Education Program. In 2005, RWJF expanded the program to students interested in the dental profession and renamed it again.

Key Results
The national program office reported the following results for the Minority Medical Education Program (MMEP), the Summer Minority Education Program (SMEP) and the Summer Medical and Dental Education Program (SMDEP) from 1989 (the first summer session) to 2008:

• 17,540 students have participated in the three iterations of the summer enrichment initiative.
• Of the MMEP and SMEP cohorts (14,659), 63.5 percent of the participants (9,304 students) have applied to M.D. granting institutions. Of the medical school applicants, 64.9 percent (6,042) were accepted and of the accepted applicants 98.3 percent (5,940) entered medical school.
• 3,779 program participants have graduated from medical school (as of March 2009).

Since SMDEP participants represent a younger cohort of scholars (incoming sophomores and juniors), it is expected that their application to medical or dental school will not occur until at least two years after program participation. However, the national program office has preliminary data indicating that SMDEP scholars are already applying to medical and dental school. For the SMDEP 2006 scholars (954 participants), the following data are available:

• Of the pre-medical scholar group (800), 19.6 percent (157) applied to M.D. granting institutions. Of the applicants, 56.7 percent (89) were accepted, and 96.6 percent (86) of the accepted applicants enrolled.
• Of the pre-dental scholar group (154), 35.1 percent (54) applied to dental school. Of the applicants, 11.1 percent (6) were accepted, and 66.7 percent of the accepted applicants enrolled (4).

Rates of application, acceptance and enrollment to medical school may be underestimated, however, since the data does not include information from the 25 colleges of osteopathic medicine.

Tracking data for 1,185 SMDEP respondents show the following results as of April, 2009:

• 92.6 percent (1097) reported continued interest in medicine or dentistry, or enrollment in medical or dental school.
• 7.4 percent (88) reported interest in pursuing other careers, including other health professions such as optometry, nursing, psychology, veterinary medicine, and careers in biomedical research, law, public health, business and engineering.

For more results see Overall Program Results.

The Program
The program is open to students who:

• Are college freshman and sophomores.
• Are members of a racial or ethnic group that is underrepresented in medicine or dentistry relative to their numbers in the general population.
• Come from disadvantaged circumstances, such as poverty, rural area, or underserved community.
• Have an interest in issues affecting underserved populations.

Medical and dental schools at 12 sites around the country develop and implement the program curriculum, which includes courses in the basic sciences and math as well as in writing, oral presentations and current health issues. Students also participate in a seminar on learning and study skills, sessions on personal financial planning and career development, and clinical exposure in medicine and dentistry (limited to 5 percent of program time).

Each site enrolls 80 students—undergraduates who have completed their freshmen or sophomore years. At one site a few select academically advanced rising freshmen also are included. The first summer session including students seeking dental school admission was in 2006.

Program Management
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) is the official national program office, however, RWJF considers the program a joint responsibility of AAMC and the American Dental Education Association (ADEA). The two associations represent professional schools and other educational groups, programs and institutions related to their respective disciplines and are located near each other in Washington.

Charles Terrell, Ed.D., AAMC, chief diversity officer, is the director of the program, a position he has held since 2002. Norma I. Poll, Ph.D., has been the deputy director at the AAMC since 2007.

Reflecting the collaborative nature of the current program, Rick Valachovic, D.M.D., M.P.H., executive director, and William David Brunson, D.D.S., associate director at the Center for Equity and Diversity at the ADEA, are the associate director and co-deputy director, respectively.

Funding
The program was originally authorized by RWJF's Board of Trustees in July 1987 for up to $8 million. It has been reauthorized in 1994, 1998, 2003, 2005 and 2009 for a total authorization of up to $66.9 million through January 2011.