Leadership Education to Advance Diversity–African, Black and Caribbean (LEAD-ABC)

To apply to the LEAD-ABC program, you must first apply to the UCI School of Medicine MD program through the AMCAS application system.  If invited for a secondary application, you will have the option to express your interest in LEAD-ABC and complete the program supplementary questions.

For more information, please contact LEADadmin@hs.uci.edu

Upon graduation, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate knowledge of the unique health concerns affecting ABC communities
• Conduct culturally sensitive history and physical exams of patients from an ABC community
• Develop a service-learning project that examines and addresses health disparities that disproportionately affect ABC communities
• Serve as mentors and future leaders who will advance the provision of quality care to ABC communities

First and second years

In the first and second years of medical school, students enroll in LEAD ABC courses designed to expand students’ knowledge, abilities, and confidence in addressing the needs of ABC patients and populations in clinical and community settings.

LEAD-ABC scholars will gain from interdisciplinary partnerships with the Department of African American Studies, UC Irvine Schools of Nursing, Public Health and Pharmacy as well as UC Irvine Health patients, and other volunteer faculty and community content experts. Representative topics include:

• Imposter Syndrome
• Community Engagement and Capacity Building
• Health Disparities
• Public Speaking Skills 

In addition to the above sessions, LEAD-ABC scholars will engage in a longitudinal clinical clerkship as a part of the Patient Centered (PACE) Clerkship, which begins in the second half of the first year, at a site that serves patients from ABC communities, and/or a provider from an ABC community.

Third and fourth years

In the third year, LEAD-ABC medical scholars’ rotations are primarily in Long Beach hospitals and clinics, and students continue to attend community experiential learning lessons (CELLs) and evening reflection sessions as their schedule permits.

In the fourth year, LEAD-ABC scholars spend at least four weeks at a healthcare site that serves ABC patients or communities.

Faculty mentors linked to LEAD ABC scholars as early as their first year provide career guidance and shadowing opportunities, and learning support is available as needed.

• Kaosoluchi Enendu
• Kelley Butler