“At that time, a large number of us from UofL School of Medicine, Jefferson County Public Schools and the mayor’s office had a meeting about how we, as a school, could partner with JCPS,” said Compton.

High school to med school

Compton saw a strong natural partner in Central High School which had with a long-standing pre-med program, and already a strong partner in other programming with UofL. The initiative, delayed a couple of years by COVID, was launched as an official partnership program in 2022, utilizing a mini medical school model.

The program, which pairs about 120 pre-med magnet students a year (30 per grade level) with UofL medical school, introduces medical vocabulary and basic pre-med training in ninth and 10th grades. In their junior year, students shadow in 10 core areas such as emergency medicine or pediatrics, and finish by selecting the medical specialty they want to pursue and shadow throughout their senior year.

Compton’s wife, Tamela Compton, Central High School’s principal, and the other half of the power couple leading the program, said she has been amazed by the level of maturity the program participants demonstrate.

She says at Central High School, where 80% of students receive free and reduced lunch, many students worry how to finance their dream, but they have been able to talk to medical professionals who were once in their shoes and can offer solutions, said Principal Compton. The students are given information and tips about scholarships, grants or paid internships.

Additionally, they are shown the ropes by UofL faculty and staff, along with UofL med students who are highly involved, helping teach lectures, classes and sessions, and are there to give advice, as well.

“The kids see the end product, that white coat, but they also are hearing ‘yes, I experienced hurdles, yes, I had setbacks,’ so that’s probably been the most powerful thing for a lot of our students,” she said.

Authentic experience

From medical skills to life skills, for the Central High students, the term “hands-on” can sometimes mean, literally. Central students were shadowing with emergency medicine physicians on April 10, 2023, the day of the tragic National Bank shooting in downtown Louisville and stepped in to assist immediately. In another incident, a man who had been shot was trying to drive himself to the hospital and crashed near Central High School. Using training learned through the program, a student applied a tourniquet and saved his life.

Dwayne Compton said every day the program is learning to flex to the needs of students, so now a mental health practitioner is part of the program to help students process the authentic, sometimes raw intensity of the pre-med experience.

“Our students have walked hand-in-hand with the doctor to deliver good news and bad news,” he said. “They’ve seen the birth of a child, but also the death of a child.”

Planting seeds

Compton said data from the American Association of Medical Colleges illustrates the huge shortage of health care providers across the country, and in Kentucky specifically, there are several counties with no physicians, and others in dire need of nurses, dentists, mental health workers and other clinicians. In addition to medicine, UofL’s Schools of Dentistry, Public Health and Information Sciences and Nursing all have similar career-driven partnership programs with Central High School. Each of these disciplines offer opportunities for shadowing, mentoring and earning college credits and certifications.

“With these strong partnerships through our health professions schools, more students who might have aspired to go to historically Black colleges or go out-of-state are giving their hometown options a closer look,” said Dwayne Compton.

He added that students who choose UofL may be able to sign up for Porters of Medicine, an undergraduate program that offers continued academic support, regular monthly programming, MCAT prep, tutoring and more.

With more than 1,200 applications for just 300 pre-med spots, the partnership program is poised for growth and replication at other high schools and health districts around the county. In the health care space, Central is becoming the blueprint for this kind of work.

As it evolves and looks at expanding to other schools, Compton said he is amazed how strong the program has become in just three-and-a half-years.

“We are proud as a university and a health system that we are getting calls from other medical schools asking about the intricacies of how we did this,” said Compton. “We are becoming a model throughout the country.”

The Central High School gives west Louisville students an up close and personal experience with a career in medicine. Students shadow UofL doctors during rounds at , scrub into operating rooms and witness surgeries. They also get to practice performing simpler procedures, like sutures, through this immersive curriculum.

The program launched in the fall semester of 2022, making this the second white coat ceremony to date, but already, the program’s success cannot be underestimated. Leaders like Edward Miller anticipate nearly 75% of students who receive their white coat will continue their journey towards a profession in a health care-related field.

“For two years now, we have witnessed and will continue to witness the changes this program makes to our community,” said , UofL Physicians – OB/GYN & Women’s Health and assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health at the UofL School of Medicine. “We’ve already connected dozens of students to meet, work with and befriend doctors, nurses and so many more health care professionals, and eventually that number will turn to hundreds, then thousands. These students will no longer be able to say that they have never seen a doctor that looks like them.”

As juniors in this program, these students rotate through each of the core medical clerkships from OB/GYN to emergency medicine in an effort to learn which field best suits them. In their senior year, they’ll get to choose which area of medicine they wish to pursue for their future and have one-on-one mentorship with leaders in those specialties.

“This program is an extension of the commitment to transform the health of our community by engaging with the next generation of health care professionals,” said . “We want to share our passion to care for people, hoping to inspire more students to consider nursing, medical school and other health careers at UofL Health.”

This year’s white coats were donated by Humana. Each one placed on the shoulder of a student serves as a reminder of ambitions that can be fulfilled. This historic partnership connects UofL Health, Central High School, UofL School of Medicine, the Falls City Medical Society and Humana to encourage the future generation towards a career in the medical field.

“The White Coat Ceremony is a true testament to the opportunities that can be achieved through collaboration and a commitment to the success of our city’s youth,” said Jeffrey Bumpous, MD, interim dean of the UofL School of Medicine. “Part of our mission is to educate the next generation of physicians and contribute to the health and wellness of the community—locally, regionally, nationally and globally. Thanks to partnerships like this driven by our Office of Community Engagement and Diversity, our faculty physicians can engage the next generation of health care professionals.”

The pre-medical pipeline program offers educational opportunities, college credit and hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships. At the end, students will be equipped with knowledge, resources and mentorship to lead the change for this community.

“Donning a white coat holds special significance for our students,” said . “Being viewed as a member of the UofL Health team is a tremendous opportunity as our students get hands on experience with the doctors and other health care professionals whose footsteps many of them hope to follow.”

Students in the Central High School Magnet Career Academy are selected for admission through a competitive process with over 100 applicants that includes achievement test scores, grade point average, personal essays and teacher recommendations. Central has the second-highest number of Governor’s Scholars in the district. Central is one of two high schools in Kentucky to offer Montessori education.

The pre-medical magnet program starts accepting applicants in a student’s freshman year. For more information on how to apply, .��

To donate to the program, .

Now, 14 Central students have been accepted and plan to pursue engineering degrees at UofL.��

“It’s taken some time over the past seven years but now we’re seeing the relationship starting to pay off,” said Chris Brown, Central STEM teacher. ��

“They (Speed School) had a lot of summer programs on campus that we participated in to get a feel for the labs that they have,” said Anastasia Bricest, one of the graduating seniors who plans to attend UofL next year.��

“Opening the door to LARRI (Louisville Autonomous Robotics Research Institute) was a pretty big thing they did for us,” said Logan Lewis, who is going to the Speed School to study electrical engineering.��

Brown says one of the goals of the magnet program is to get more people of color, particularly women of color, interested in engineering and STEM fields. He says Central’s relationship with students and faculty at the Speed School has been encouraging to his high schoolers, who see college students who look like them, being successful. ��

“These are sharp kids,” Brown said. “And remember, these are pandemic students so they’ve had to be resilient and do a lot of learning on their own, just like they will have to do in college.”��

UofL is reaping benefits as well.��

“The Speed School of Engineering greatly values the relationship we have with Central High School,” said Emmanuel Collins, dean of engineering.  “They do a great job of preparing a diverse set of students for STEM disciplines and we’re excited that many of them are matriculating at the Speed School of Engineering.”��

High school students acted as health officials, responding to a simulated infectious disease outbreak public health crisis at the UofL Health Sciences Center on April 15. Event organizers from UofL’s School of Medicine and School of Public Health and Information Sciences and the Kentucky Department for Public Health guided approximately 20 Central High School students through a series of activities to identify the source of a disease outbreak and plan a response.

Presented with a health crisis scenario, the students researched three potential diagnoses, interviewed standardized patients and participated in a “tick drag” to gather insects they suspected to be the source of infections. After determining the outbreak was caused by Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, the students designed a public health plan to curb the spread.��

The project was a pilot for a larger event to take place June 5 at Morehead State University for 32 students in the Rogers Scholars Program. It is designed to interest the students in health careers.

The Central High School , which launched in the fall semester of 2022, gives west Louisville students an up-close and personal experience with a career in medicine. Students are able to shadow UofL doctors during rounds at , scrub into operating rooms and witness surgeries, and also get practice performing simpler procedures, like sutures through this immersive curriculum.

With every white coat placed on the shoulders of a student, this ceremony serves as a reminder of goals that can be fulfilled. This historic partnership connects UofL Health, Central High School, and the Falls City Medical Society to encourage the future generation towards a career in the medical field.

“I’m so proud of these students and I know that programs like this work. We already have and will continue to see the changes it makes to our community,” said , assistant professor in the UofL Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health and a physician with UofL Physicians – OB/GYN & Women’s Health. “We’ve already connected dozens of students to meet, work with and befriend doctors, nurses and so many more health care professionals, and eventually that number will turn to hundreds, then thousands. These students will no longer be able to say that they have never seen a doctor that looks like them.”

As juniors in this program, these students rotated through each of the core medical clerkships from OB/GYN to emergency medicine in an effort to learn which field best suits them. In their senior year, they’ll get to choose which area of medicine they wish to pursue a future in and have one-on-one mentorship with leaders in those specialties.

“I am in awe of the determination and dedication of the students at Central High School and the eagerness of our faculty physicians to give of their time and talents to showcase to them the wonderful world of medicine,” said . “Part of our mission is to educate the next generation of physicians and contribute to the health and wellness of the community—locally, regionally, nationally and globally. Thanks to partnerships like this driven by our Office of Community Engagement and Diversity, our faculty physicians have the chance to instill a love for medicine early in a student’s academic career and welcome a new cohort of medical professionals.”

The pre-medical pipeline program offers educational opportunities, college credit and hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships. At the end, students will be equipped with knowledge, resources and mentorship to lead the change for this community.

“This program is an extension of the commitment to transform the health of our community by engaging with the next generation of health care professionals,” said . “We want to share our passion to care for people, hoping to inspire more students to consider nursing, medical school and other health careers at UofL Health.”

Students in the Central High School Magnet Career Academy are selected for admission through a competitive process with over 100 applicants that includes achievement test scores, grade point average, personal essays and other teacher recommendations. Central has the second-highest number of Governor’s Scholars in the district. Central is one of two high schools in Kentucky to offer Montessori education.

“Donning a white coat holds special significance for our students,” said . “Being viewed as a member of the UofL Health team is a tremendous opportunity as our students get hands on experience with the doctors and other health care professionals whose footsteps many of them hope to follow.”

The white coats, presented to the 33 juniors at UofL’s Health Sciences Center on Feb. 26, were provided by UofL Health. The pre-medical magnet program starts accepting applicants in a student’s high school freshman year. For more information on how to apply, .��

The – which oversees Signature Partnership strategy and events – sponsored an appearance by known as the “Hip Hop Preacher” for his ability to connect with young people to motivate them to succeed.

“Dr. Eric ‘ET’ Thomas’ passion, drive and grit are second to none,” said Vice President for Community Engagement Douglas Craddock. “His keen ability to connect with everyone he interacts with is evident and both impactful and inspirational. His visit to UofL was remarkable and will have a lasting effect on our campus and community.”

Sharing his own life experiences, Thomas talked about “going from a GED to a Ph.D.” to encourage the audience to achieve greatness.

“I’m a high school dropout. I was homeless for two and a half years, and somebody came in my life and said, ‘It’s not where you are, it’s where you want to be,’ and they helped me go from a GED to a Ph.D.,” he said.

A New York Times best-selling author for his book, Thomas uses easy-to-recall phrases to help plant motivational ideas in students’ minds:

• “When you want to succeed as badly as you want to breathe, then you will be successful.”
• “It doesn’t matter what hand you have; it matters the way you play the hand you have.”
• “God’s going to take care of you, don’t worry about that. But the question is, are you going to have the character to sustain that blessing?”

Thomas understands young people facing challenges because he has walked in their shoes. His urgent message to stop waiting for inspiration to strike and take control of your life is one he wishes someone had given him when he was a teenager—lost, homeless, failing in school and dealing with the challenges of being a young Black man in America.

Once he was able to break free from thinking of himself as a victim and truly understand his strengths, he switched the script. And today, he reaches out to reveal how others can rewrite their life’s script.��

His work perfectly aligns with , which works to enhance the quality of life and economic opportunity for residents of west Louisville.��The goal is to collaborate with various community partners to improve the education, health, wellness and social status of individuals and families who live in Metro Louisville’s urban core.

“UofL’s Signature Partnership Initiative works closely with community residents, Jefferson County Public Schools, Louisville Metro Government, Metro United Way, the Urban League, faith-based organizations and many others in existing and new programs to eliminate or reduce disparities that West Louisville residents experience in education, health, economic and social conditions,” Craddock said.��“We draw upon the expertise and energy of faculty, staff and students from every school and college at UofL to deal with the quality of life issues affecting our community.”

In addition to addressing the JCPS students in the Swain Student Activities Center Ballroom on Feb. 15, Thomas also spoke with student athletes on the football and men’s basketball teams.

“The Central High School Pre-Medical Magnet Program is what I’ve dreamed of being able to create since I graduated medical school,” said , assistant professor and director of maternal fetal medicine at UofL and provider with UofL Physicians – OB/GYN & Women’s Health. “This is a chance for students in west Louisville to not only know doctors that look like them, but to call them a mentor and friend.”

“UofL Health is proud to support Central High School and inspire the next generation of health care workers,” said Tom Miller, UofL Health CEO. “This program complements our commitment to reduce barriers to care by reducing barriers for employment. Together, with our , we are investing to ensure our community is well prepared for the future.”

The pre-medical pipeline program launched in August and offers educational opportunities, mentorship, college credit and hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships. Its creation is in partnership with UofL Health, the UofL School of Medicine, Falls City Medical Society and Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS).

“I am so proud of our students and so excited to see their success,” Central High School Principal Dr. Tamela Compton said. “Our first pre-medical magnet class has already learned so much – from gaining hands-on first aid and emergency response experience in Central High School classrooms to scrubbing into surgeries at the hospital. Just two months into the program, these students are flourishing.”

More than 20 Central High seniors are currently rotating through different specialties, including OB/GYN, anesthesia and cardiothoracic surgery, while learning from UofL Health physicians and local physicians through the Falls City Medical Society. The Falls City Medical Society is committed to advancing the art and science of medicine for people of African descent and is playing a key role in ensuring student experience in the Pre-Medical Magnet Program is integrated into the Louisville physician community. Students shadow these physicians twice a week, earning college credit.

Later this month, the program will open up to Central High School juniors, who will rotate through each of the 10 core specialties.

“We are proud of our continued and strengthened partnership with Central High School and the opportunities it provides our faculty and students,” said Toni Ganzel, dean of the UofL School of Medicine. “Working alongside school administrators to enact quality learning for underserved youth is a strategic goal of the School of Medicine. We aim to fill our classrooms with diverse and talented students that reflect the world around us, and it is partnerships such as this that will create that transformative change.”

Students in the Central High School Magnet Career Academy (MCA) are selected for admission through a competitive process that includes achievement test scores, grade point average (GPA), personal essays and other teacher recommendations. Central has the second-highest number of Governor’s Scholars in the district. Central is one of two high schools in Kentucky to offer Montessori education.

“This program is already changing lives,” JCPS Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio said. “Central’s pre-medical magnet students will graduate with knowledge many don’t gain until college. Opportunities like this are what we are working hard to provide to all JCPS students, so they graduate college and career ready.”

He took time to talk with UofL News about recent career accomplishments, Black Studies and Black ����ֱ��al Theory as areas of research, as well as the interdisciplinary nature of his work.

UofL News: It seems your career has expanded over the past year, including tenure, a dual-appointment, high productivity in publications – what is the force behind this success?

Washington: The dual-appointment with Pan-African Studies has allowed me to revisit both my academic work and the person I was when I entered my doctoral program. So, I tell a lot of folks that this dual appointment is really me being my most honest and congruent professional self. I went into my doctoral program deeply immersed in Black psychology and Black educational practice literature. I felt alienated because it sometimes seemed there wasn’t anyone in my department that tapped into that work and made the connection back to counseling. It feels rejuvenating to be back to where I started thinking about these issues whether they be counseling or education through the lens of Black peoples’ experiences. That’s what I am most excited about.

UofL News: Hip-hop doesn’t always seem like the most common area of research. Talk a bit about that passion and translating it into your academic work.

Washington: I went into my doctoral program already in love and infatuated with hip-hop studies and hip-hop culture. It never occurred to me during my matriculation that it could be an area of research. For me, part of being the researcher and academic I am today is an effort to ultimately develop a presence in counselor education that lives and breathes hip-hop and recognizes its inherent therapeutic value.

In terms of translating this work to practice – I knew hip-hop was therapeutic from the moment that I met it. It’s an epiphany to white school educators – like ‘wow, hip-hop is amazing and can be therapeutic.’ My question is, when has Black cultural production not been therapeutic? The frustrating part of this is having to convince folks of hip-hop as a discipline. The things that Black and Brown folks have been saying for ages is meaningful to their existence – we are just coming around to treating it as a discipline? It can be frustrating. I’m not doing anything innovative, this work has been going on since the 80s. But it is still difficult to find an accredited program with references to hip-hop culture.

UofL News: While the dual appointment is relatively new, how has it informed your work in the College of ����ֱ�� and Human Development and vice versa? How has it informed your teaching?

Washington: Pan-African Studies has so many ethical responses to the questions that are assumed to be asked in other disciplines. Critical race theory – the conversation that folks in education seem to have only just now showed up to – constitutes the core of what Black studies has been since its inception.

Take the Socratic method, for example. It is inherently problematic to associate the ability to do this pedagogical intervention to a man named Socrates, when there were folks doing it before he even existed. You can’t talk about the Socratic method and say you don’t engage in forms of white supremacy. So, this field is about creating basic and foundational courses that raise consciousness. There are things we do as teachers that we proclaim we would not do, but we do them because they are woven into the way we are taught to be teachers.

UofL News: Talk a bit about your work in schools throughout Jefferson County.

Washington: Most of my work has occurred at Central High School and the Academy at Shawnee. At Central, my work is with the Muhammad Ali Institute and the Muhammad Ali Scholars program. That program seeks to create a pipeline to our undergraduate programs.

I also co-developed and co-taught a course there called Hip-Hop Culture in American History. That was a rigorous and intense elective course. They were working through the same textbook that we would use for college students, and the course was the last period of the day. We had students signing up for that class even after the semester had begun. So, in terms of evidence of investment and engagement, that is meaningful.��

UofL News: How do you see that developing in the future?

Washington: I have never relinquished the aspiration and the desire to contribute to the creation of a school counseling program that has hip-hop culture and pop culture as a core foundational ingredient. I think that’s meaningful and important, and it doesn’t exist in school counseling. There are programs and certificates that are related to hip-hop studies that show promise, so there are examples to prove that it’s viable.

UofL News: What makes the work we do at UofL distinct or unique from other schools across the country?

Washington: UofL’s Department of Pan-African Studies is one of the first in the region and the only degree-granting department in Kentucky. That’s impactful. Thinking about that and the possibility of contributing to that revitalization and history is something that makes our work unique.

Washington recently published a co-authored chapter in the book by Cheryl Holcomb McCoy, released November 2021. His chapter entitled, “Decolonizing the Counseling Canon” was written alongside Janice A. Byrd, Pennsylvania State University and Joseph M. Williams, University of Virginia.��

Now 20 years strong, the relationship of the two schools illuminates the value UofL places on community engagement. The Cardinal influence through��Central’s law magnet��represents a cornerstone of UofL’s Signature Partnership Initiative in west Louisville.��

During a Louisville Bar Association event celebrating the partnership this month, Rothstein received an award as the 2021 LBA Diversity Trailblazer. UofL News caught up with her to talk about her life’s work through the partnership.��

UofL News: Why did you become involved in the Central High School partnership?��

Rothstein:��I had gone to law school because of my interest in social justice and race and gender issues, so this was a program that was a priority for me from the beginning. The goal of the program was not just to create a pipeline of students to becoming lawyers, but to encourage these high school students to become civically engaged and active citizens and leaders in other ways. Initially, the program involved an essay contest, and having Central students visit the law school or attend special events.������

UofL News: How did the program evolve over time?��

Rothstein:��In��2005, after Joe Gutmann became the Law and Government Magnet teacher at Central, we decided to do more than ‘spark the interest,’ but to build the skills through having law students teach at Central. After I left the deanship in which I had served from 2000 to 2005, I was able to devote more time to developing and enhancing the program. I have also worked with the principals at Central and various departments on campus to replicate similar partnerships. ��

UofL News:��What impact do you hope to make on these high school students?����

Rothstein:��We��want them not just to become lawyers, we want them to be engaged civically.��The questionnaires at the end of the year indicate that this goal has been met. They are more aware of and interested in current events. They have developed skills of analytical thinking and improved writing and communication skills that are useful in any higher education context and in life generally.��Central graduates credit Joe Gutmann with giving them the confidence to succeed in college and beyond.��

UofL News:��Do you know how many students involved in the Central High School Law and Government Magnet program went on to earn a Juris Doctor degree?����

Rothstein:��I think there have been 35 Central graduates who have become (or will become) lawyers. I am counting three who are expected to graduate in 2022. We also know of at least two who plan to apply to law school in the next year or two.��

It’s important to note that many of the law magnet graduates have also gone on to other significant professional careers and to obtain other graduate and professional degrees. For example, graduates since the partnership began include students who’ve earned a PhD in Agricultural Economics, a Master in Business, a Master in Public Health and a PhD Candidate in Pan African studies at UofL. Additionally, several individuals have become teachers.��������

UofL News:��Why is it a great opportunity for law students to be involved in teaching the high schoolers?������

Rothstein:��We began an enhanced program in 2007 by incorporating law student taught coursework – Street Law for sophomores, Writing Skills for juniors, and Marshall-Brennan Civil Liberties for seniors. Each year about 25 law students receive public service and/or academic credit for this work. At the end of the year, law students often note that the experience has been eye-opening and many say it is the best thing they did in law school.��������

UofL News:��Why is this program and partnership with UofL so important?������

Rothstein:��It is of value to both Central and UofL students, and it highlights the value that UofL places on community engagement with Louisville and the West End through its Signature Partnership Initiative, part of the UofL Office of Community Engagement.������

UofL News:��What is the future of the program?������

Rothstein:��We would like to add a program at the undergraduate level where Central students who attend UofL stay connected and engage in other activities. This includes things like staying involved with the law school, preparing for the LSAT and remaining connected with each other. Since the program began, there has been a significant increase in the number of Central High Law Magnet students attending and graduating from law schools. These law schools include UofL, UK, Washington University St. Louis and University of Chicago. We also continue to work with other UofL departments to develop similar partnerships at Central.������

��

“The things you learn from those classes at Central directly translate to the university,” Donis-Munoz said. “I’m currently studying constitutional law and political science and a lot of the things we’re doing are the same things we learned about at Central.”

Donis-Munoz and 36 other Central students, most of whom are minorities, came up through the law magnet program and are currently attending UofL. It’s part of UofL’s Signature Partnership which is designed to improve education and economic opportunities for west Louisville residents. Joe Gutmann is a UofL graduate, former prosecutor and current UofL law school faculty member who teaches at Central and leads the law magnet program.

“If people knew the commitment of this university towards our kids as much as they know the athletic department, they’d be really proud of the university,” Gutmann said. “UofL is doing amazing things to help people.”

Gutmann, Donis-Munoz and fellow UofL student and Central High School graduate Elliott Kelly Jr. talked about their experiences and the success of the UofL/Central H.S. partnership on .