This summer, just like the previous nine, Baltimore City high school students who aspire to careers in research and healthcare will work with University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) scientists and University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) clinicians in the Summer Bioscience Internship Program (SBIP).

Seventeen students began the program June 25 with a three-day orientation that featured HIPAA training provided by Allison Robinson, MPH, program manager, Maryland AHEC Program in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the School of Medicine (UMSOM); laboratory safety training provided by UMB Environmental Health Services staff member Simone Houng; a presentation about the Meyerhof Scholars Program given by UMB graduate student and SBIP program coordinator Devona Quasie-Woode; surgery by robotics hands-on demonstration in the Maryland Advanced Simulation Training Research and Innovation (MASTRI) Center at UMMC provided by simulation specialist Maggie Ryan MS, RN, and simulation educator Katie Gordon, MS, RN, CNE; and a presentation on lung transplantation and clinic tour provided by June Kim, MD, director of lung transplant, UMSOM Department of Medicine, and her multidisciplinary staff.

After the orientation, SBIP students on June 27 met the mentors they will shadow or work for four weeks. Students are required to journal their experience and will present their reflections to peers and mentors at the end of the program. Participants this year include students from Baltimore City high schools as well as undergraduates who began the program as high school students in previous years.

This year, eight of the students received coveted placement in the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center under the guidance of Laura Buchanan, MD, and nine were placed with faculty researchers in the schools of medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry. The trauma students work varying shifts on the nursing units, with emergency surgery services, or embedded in trauma teams A, B, C, or D.

Quasie-Woode, a master’s student studying cellular and molecular biomedical science, says, “It’s so important to nurture a student’s interests in the early stages, before doubt and fear set in. Young scholars should understand that it’s OK to have big dreams if you’re willing to put in the necessary hard work. SBIP affords students the opportunity to grow professionally while directly experiencing the field of biomedical science.”

The SBIP, directed by UMB Office of Community Engagement and Maryland AHEC Program staff members Brian Sturdivant, MSW, and Robinson and coordinated by Quasie-Woode, is one of four youth employment initiatives operated by UMB on campus and in its surrounding community this summer in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development (MOED) YouthWorks summer employment program.