2017 CIIP Program Book 2017 CIIP Program Book | Page 36

Community Partner: MERIT (Medical Education Resources Initiative for Teens)
Intern: Eileen Yu
Site Supervisors: Erika Sulecki
What is MERIT?
MERIT aims to eliminate health disparities by transforming underrepresented high school
students into health care leaders. To accomplish these goals, MERIT ultimately provides its
scholars with seven years of academic, professional, and social support.
"It was crazy to work at MERIT and see examples of the things we had learned about concerning education in
Baltimore City during the CIIP orientation and reflection sessions. Over the past eight weeks, I assisted the
MERIT staff in preparing for and executing a five-week intensive summer internship for high school students
in the city. All the students, like myself, are interested in the medical field. They had the chance to shadow
over twenty different departments at the Johns Hopkins, Bayview, and University of Maryland hospitals and
concurrently participated in daily discussions, debates, reflections, and hours upon hours of homework.
I am the third CIIP intern at MERIT and knew it was going to be a special experience when two of my
coworkers were the other two previous CIIPers who had been placed there! One of the things I love about
MERIT is that they approach their curriculum with a strong public health perspective. As the students are
learning about gas exchange in the lungs or the symptoms of myocardial infarction, they are also required to
research and put together a project on health disparities. They are taught to be critical of their surroundings
as they shadow—many of them noting in their evaluations or discussions that there is a clear dearth of
healthcare providers who are minorities among the people they have shadowed, despite there being strong
evidence published that shows this is to the detriment of many communities.
The students seem to face grim odds and they are fully aware of that. Over the summer, I have been able to
share my experiences at college with them and they could not even imagine the amount of work needed to
get through college and go to medical school. Most of them never having even had homework before,
started the summer with F’s on their daily homework and weekly quizzes. I remember fearing that they
would be discouraged and might quit. Their response was shocking. By the end of the program, every single
student’s grades increased dramatically. Students who had never had homework before were now spending
5-7 hours each night on their assignments. Many of my students stay up until 4 a.m. or later writing their
homework. It is this kind of motivation, despite so many disadvantages stacked against them, that has made
working with these students incredibly motivating and honestly unforgettable. I am so excited to continue
working with MERIT next semester and beyond!" -Eileen
•
•
•
Assisting instructor in the
classroom with discussions,
activities, homework,
quizzes, and classwork
Creating homework answer
keys and grading
assignments
Providing support for
students as they shadow
doctors and think about
career-choice and their
futures
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