COLUMBUS, Ohio — Local doctors, many with roots in Columbus, are taking the time to do rounds and check-ups to get their field in tune for a new generation.

“Made for Medicine” is a matter of hometown pride and the future of medical care, according to Dr. Laura Espy-Bell, the initiative’s founder and head teacher.

The initiative was created to create a pipeline for black and African American college students, exposing them to careers in medicine.

Children receive this hands-on enrichment with the goal of preparing them for high school and beyond to become doctors. Dr. Espy-Bell, for example, is an emergency medicine specialist with the Mid-Ohio Emergency Department. Espy-Bell said, “I wanted the students to see themselves in us. Additionally, it was intentional that the majority of physicians in the program be from Columbus. »

Most of the doctors who teach in the program also look like children. Dr. Espy-Bell said she intentionally designed the program to address a disturbing statistic: “Only 5% of all doctors in the United States are black and only 2% of them are black women.”

Made for Medicine will launch a second cohort in February with a six-week course. Physicians who participated in the first cohort described it as extremely rewarding.

“These kids gravitate towards her unlike anything I’ve ever really experienced,” said Dr. William J. Hicks, II who is co-director of the Comprehensive Stroke Center at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital. “It’s extremely gratifying for the doctors on the faculty to see a child who wants to get everything you have.”

Applications for the six-week Made for Medicine course starting in February are now being accepted. You can apply here.

Local news: recent coverage ⬇️