Sponsorship Programs.
We are counting on your support in maintaining the following programs this year
It is important to note that the road to becoming a great physician starts with being a great student. There are no substitutes for that. While we inspire, encourage and believe in each of our students, we also fully understand that “faith without works is dead.” We therefore have an Academic STEM Center that is devoted to providing the resources that our students need from Organic Chemistry tutoring to upper-level biology. Students have access to at least 10 hours of high quality tutoring each month. With your support, we provide the kinds of services that will help close the academic stem gap for our students.
I Am Abel Foundation assembled an amazing committee of physicians, medical students, and pre-med students to draft a comprehensive approach to developing underrepresented, minority students from vulnerable populations. Consisting of four tiers: a 10-week summer clinical experience at Jesse Brown VA, a 10-week MCAT developmental Program, a 10-week MCAT intensive program, and an 8-10 week summer research experience offered at various universities in Chicago, CSIDPAR is a collection of summer programs designed especially for the advancement of our mentees in the areas of clinical medicine, health equity, and research. This exciting program started in 2021!
One of the determining factors for medical school admission is the MCAT. I Am Abel Foundation recognizes the need for MCAT prep in our community, and as a result, the MCAT Development Prep Program was born! This program is designed to prepare students for the MCAT through improving study skills, question-based learning, as well as content review. Each student will need their own set of study materials including access to question banks, content review books, online video resources and in person instruction. The MCAT Development Program is a 2-summer program, focusing on Biology and General chemistry the first year and Physicians and Organic chemistry and biology the second year, with a continuous focus on Critical Analysis and Reasoning year-round.
In order for our students to become physicians, they must first be great students. Our academic advising is affirmational, supporting each student on their journey to medicine through a tailored approach. Students have heard plenty of people tell them what’s not possible. We won’t do that. We will work with our students to identify their unique needs or barriers and develop a plan that makes sense for them. After attending an Academic Advising Boot Camp, students will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with a physician or medical student advisor who will evaluate their academic standing and provide them with feedback on what steps to take next. Each student will have two academic advising sessions annually but can meet more often if needed.
While Academic Advising is of no charge to the student, it does have associated costs for certain vital components of the program, including hiring academic advisors and providing scholarships to our students that may need additional programs as post-baccalaureate students.
"Our Scholars"
SCHOLARSHIP FUND
Most of our student mentees graduating high school are struggling to afford college. While we have been very successful in helping several of our students receive full scholarships, still others are not as fortunate though equally deserving. It is our goal to offer academic and needs back scholarships annually to two deserving students enrolling in college. We also wish to offer scholarship support for our post-bacc students who are enrolled in programs where there is no financial aid option. With the exorbitant costs of pre-med applications as well as interview costs we are hoping to support our students in this area as well.
Testimonials.
Testimonies from our scholars and their time with the foundation. Click on image to read their testimonial.
The Urban Bridges Medical Mentoring Program is our flagship program. It is a three-tiered program, open to high school, undergraduate, college graduates and post baccalaureate students, designed to expose underrepresented, inner city youth interested in becoming a physician to careers in medicine. The key components of this program consist of the Saturday Morning Professor Lecture Series, a monthly seminar taught by Chicago’s Top Docs that teaches students “the language of medicine” by exposing students to a wide range of medical knowledge through clinical cases. The second component is One-on-One Physician Mentoring, where students are partnered one to one with a physician mentor who will guide them on their journey to medicine. Most of our students are also partnered with an area medical student who are just a few steps ahead of our mentees and are therefore very familiar with the journey ahead. The final critical component is what we call Affirmative Academic Advising. Our affirmational approach seeks to provide students with the support, encouragement, and additional resources needed to give their vision wings. The Urban Bridges Medical Mentoring Program will give our talented students the competitive edge needed to be a successful medical school applicant and matriculant.
Due to the generosity of our sponsors, we are able to offer this program to students at no charge. However, as our program expands and the number of mentees increases, so do the associated costs. The UBMM Program is launching a mentoring app for smooth communication between mentees and mentors as well as to send updates and reminders to our students. This app is costly, but necessary for all of the great work we do. Audiovisual support for UBMM sessions is also necessary as our meetings are now recorded due to COVID-19 restrictions. Technical equipment and technology to simulate our student experiences and support their learning are also costly. Annually, the Urban Bridges program supports more than 100 Students each year.