Thank you for your interest in the Underserved Pathway! Mentorship is an essential part of students’ experience in the Underserved Pathway.
UP mentors are healthcare professionals from across the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho) region who are involved in the care of underserved populations in a variety of capacities. UP mentors must satisfy at least one of the following criteria:
– primarily care for underserved patients
– have extensive history of caring for underserved patients
– are from a group historically underrepresented in medicine
– conduct research related to the health of historically marginalized people
Please note that UP mentors do not need to be connected with UW or academic medicine and do not need to provide research mentorship or opportunity for clinical shadowing.
The mentorship program is a longitudinal relationship to help support students’ commitment to a career caring for under-resourced populations. Mentoring provides students the opportunity to learn from an experienced role model who can field questions, discuss residency and career plans, and support them in their education while maintaining focus on each student’s commitment to the underserved.
Mentorship is a requirement for all students in the Underserved Pathway. Students have a conversation with their mentor at least once a quarter until they graduate medical school, either in-person or via phone, video chat, or email. Students take the lead in identifying their mentor and the UP team often helps connect students with potential mentors, based on their geographic location, patient population interests, specialty, and other factors. The UP Team estimates that most UP mentors spend six to eight hours per year communicating with each UP mentee. Many UP mentors have more than one mentee.
If you are interested in being an Underserved Pathway mentor, and you satisfy one or more of the qualifying criteria above, please email the Underserved Pathway Program Manager at upath@uw.edu. We will refer potential mentees to contact you directly.
Resources for Mentors
<< The UP Mentoring Roadmap
provides suggested topics of discussion for quarterly mentorship check-ins for all four years of medical school.
<< The Mentoring Relationship: A Guide for Mentors and Mentees of the Underserved Pathway discusses the goals and benefits of UP mentorship and how to best foster this type of relationship.
UP Winter 2024 mentor memo
Pathway Mentor FAQ
General Mentoring Resources
Pathway Annual Reports
Pathway Contacts
If you are a BIPOC resident or physician, consider adding your name to the UW School of Medicine Office of Healthcare Equity’s “BIPOC Physicians Directory” to help support BIPOC medical students at UWSOM.
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If you are licensed provider and are interested in volunteering with medical students at a clinical site with the UW School of Medicine Service Learning, please click here for more details.