lastword FAITH NINIVAGGI
E
very day one of our students, alums or professors does something extraordinary in the world. Recently we have seen the launch of a UMass
Medical School-developed treatment for rabies that will save thousands of lives in India; started a clinical trial to test the safety of a new type of vaccine for HIV/AIDS; and welcomed back students and faculty from their work at a medical clinic in a batey—a migrant worker camp in the sugarcane fields of the Dominican Republic—that is a teaching site for students in our International Medicine Interest Group. We are deeply proud of the extraordinary impact that members of our community have on health and social issues around the world. But I want to tell you about something much closer to home—almost within sight of our Lake Avenue campus, in fact—because the depth of our commitment to the communities in which we live and work hopefully will encourage you. For more than 20 years, UMass Medical School’s Worcester Pipeline Collaborative has partnered with public schools in some of the most economically
challenged neighborhoods in Worcester in an effort to increase opportunities for students from backgrounds that remain underrepresented in medicine, nursing and
Michael F. Collins, MD, Chancellor and Senior Vice President for the Health Sciences.
biomedical research. In the last decade alone, more than 6,000 students in the North Quadrant have joined in mentoring, job-shadowing, tutoring, internships and intensive summer study programs that open our doors to students like Jonathan Quang, whose participation in Pipeline programs took him from North High to our Health Sciences Preparation Program, all the way through UMass Medical School. Jon (SOM ’18) is now an
We are deeply proud of the extraordinary impact that members of our community have on health and social issues around the world.
emergency medicine resident whose success is both a part of the answer to the physician shortage in underserved communities and a shining example that where you are from does not have to limit how
whose students need a little extra. The generous support
far you can go.
of the Remillard Family Community Service Fund—
As needs grow, so, too, does our commitment. UMass
bolstered by nearly $60,000 in charitable donations by
Medical School supports a food pantry in a local high
our students, faculty and staff—helps these schools keep
school; filled and handed out 700 backpacks with first-
their focus on learning.
day-of-school supplies for students at Union Hill and Rice
Classroom Enrichment Grant program to help teachers
I hope you share our pride in witnessing the undeniable
Square schools; and donated clothes washers and dryers
impact of UMass Medical School around the globe and
to address a hidden barrier to learning that keeps some
right here in Worcester, where we know that regardless of
students from their full potential. Next, we will begin the
your circumstances, the sky is the limit.
28 | 2018