A Henry Ford Health surgeon is on a mission to get more high school students of color interested in the medical field.
With the help of colleagues, thoracic surgeon Dr. Ikenna Okereke runs a mentorship program out of Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. Students speak with surgeons and have hands-on opportunities to see if it’s the right path for them.
“You get to actually put gloves on, put a gown on and you’re right next to a surgeon,” said Maxwell Wilson, 10th grader at International Academy of Macomb.
This program is a dream come true for him as he explores future careers.
“I think I want to do surgery and this program really helped me see that,” Wilson said.
He believes the experience piqued his interest and allowed him to see how obtainable his goals are.
“You think you can and then you’re like ‘Ehhh, I don’t really know’ and then it’s not as hard as you really think it is,” said Wilson. “I mean it’s still difficult but you can work up to it.”
Okereke is the vice chair of Henry Ford Health Hospital in Detroit and told Local 4 that seeing students’ confidence and passion for surgery build is why he started this program eight years ago in Texas and three years ago in Detroit.
“There are not a lot of underrepresented people in most aspects of medicine, especially surgery and so beginning back then, one of my goals was to try to introduce as a pipeline program, underrepresented high school students to surgery,” Okereke said.
The program has three phases; medical professionals speaking at high schools, students getting hands-on at the hospital and a summer internship students apply for.
“75% of students who enter the program are still on a track to be in medicine, whether it’s undergrad, medical schools, in residency,” said Okereke. “I think it’s very humbling. I remember when I was in their shoes.”
The hope is that these students go even further than the medical professionals who are mentoring them today.
“It sounds cliche, but whatever I do for them, they do for me tenfold because it really does show you what you’re doing, why you’re doing what you’re doing,” Okereke said. “So I make them incredibly proud of them.”
Learn more about the program at henryford.com.
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