Institution University of New Mexico-Main Campus State New Mexico Academic Level Graduate Issue Area Academic Program Website https://hsc.unm.edu/medicine/education/ba-md/ Key Personnel Hillary Pineda Program Focus Health, Pathway/Pipeline Overview The combined BA/MD Program's mission is to address New Mexico’s physician shortage, particularly in rural areas. BA/MD advisors help students navigate through their degree program and guide the transition from home to University, high school graduate to adult, small town to a major city, undergraduate to a medical student, and beyond. Program Description The Combined BA/MD Degree Program addresses the physician shortage in New Mexico by admitting a class of diverse students committed to becoming doctors and practitioners of medicine in underserved communities across New Mexico. Each year 28 diverse students from New Mexico and the Navajo Nation are admitted as freshmen into the program through a holistic review process, with a conditional placement reserved for them at The University of New Mexico School of Medicine. Students are provided with: full-cost scholarships for the first four years at UNM, academic advisement (with low student to advisor ratios, and program-specific counselors. They receive cohort-only math and science courses in state-of-the-art active learning classrooms, a summer Foundations in Science course required of incoming BA/MD freshmen with an ACT score of 25 or less; low-class size for BA/MD students in core; program-dedicated pre-med classes; and a Summer Practicum (service learning) requirement between students’ second and third years, where they live and work in a rural community, shadow local physicians and work on a community engagement project with local health organizations. Additionally, a specialized curriculum entitled Health, Medicine, and Human Values was also developed to educate students on the healthcare needs of New Mexico and the social aspects of medicine. Faculty also attend workshops focused upon the specific needs of BA/MD students. Outcome The Combined BA/MD Program has been successful in recruiting underrepresented students, 44% of students identifying as being Hispanic. 41 students from their first three cohorts have graduated from medical school, of that 30 % were Hispanic. 26 graduates are now completing post-medical school graduate training in New Mexico, and upon completion, the majority of the BA/MD physicians will return to the state to practice. Learn more about Latino College Completion in New Mexico Return to Growing What Works Database
