The Med-COR study: preparing high school students for health careers

Recognizing the need for adequate representation of minorities in the health field, many professional schools initiated special recruitment efforts to attract minority students and developed programs to provide academic enrichment. Between 1971 and 1977, 480 black and Hispanic high school students from four inner-city schools in Los Angeles participated in the Med-COR Program (Medical Counseling, Organizing, and Recruiting) at the University of Southern California School of Medicine. The program was designed to increase the number of minority health professionals by offering enriched courses in the sciences and field experience in hospitals and laboratories. The positive results of a follow-up of 480 Med-COR students support the rationale that the number of minority health professionals can be increased by high school recruitment programs.