The need for a new generation of doctors with experience engaging in public health and community issues is clear. An AmeriCorps-affiliated program offers IU School of Medicine students just that.
Hoosier Public Health Corps (HPHC), available to students in the summer after their first year, offers the chance to effect change at nonprofits across Indiana. By experiencing the unique challenges of the state’s communities and people, students gain perspectives they’re unlikely to encounter in the classroom during their first two years of medical education. First-year students can apply to the program by January 15.
Niki Messmore, MSEd, director of medical service learning, said the students go on several experiential learning trips and service opportunities during the summer, convening every Friday for seminars to cover important public health topics that often get overlooked during the traditional medical curriculum.
“I think there are some folks who think, ‘Oh, students just care about biology and these more clinical components of medical education’ and might feel students aren’t as interested in these other topics, but this [HPHC] has shown me that our students are hungry for the opportunity to learn more,” she said.
Tommy McEvilly, an MS2 at IU School of Medicine’s Bloomington campus who did his service project at Bloomington-based HealthNet, agrees. “Social issues, social justice, environmental health, queer health—just all these different topics that you may touch on for half an hour, but I think a lot of us want more of that,” he said.
For Kamal Singh, a second-year student at the School’s Indianapolis location, it opened his eyes to issues he didn’t realize the extent of. “There were so many different topics that I didn’t really realize were problems that needed to be addressed in our community,” he said. “The seminars did a really good job at informing and also empowering the students to take action in those issues.”
Singh worked at Meals on Wheels of Central Indiana. While he completed daily routine tasks like delivering meals, talking to clients, and working with staff, Singh conducted a survey measuring social connection levels among elderly clients.
Khunsha Ahmed, an MS2 who worked at Exodus Refugee Immigration in Indianapolis, said the seminars broadened her knowledge, which she then utilized in her service project. “I’m getting education about trauma-informed care, I’m getting education about more marginalized communities, their needs, how to be an advocate,” Ahmed said. “Then being able to apply it was very helpful.”
The regular seminar meetings also provided the program participants—often dispersed at IU School of Medicine’s nine campuses around the state—the opportunity to forge ties with one another. “It helps them to develop connections across campuses,” Messmore said. “We talk a lot about student wellness, but one thing we can do for it is to help them develop those close relationships with each other.”
Ahmed attests to this. “I absolutely loved it,” she said. “I feel like I knew one person coming into this, and I was a little nervous, but even on that first day, we were having real conversations. I built some friendships that I know will last way past med school.”
Don’t miss your chance to be a part of this unique opportunity. Applications for the 2025 HPHC cohort are open to first-year students now—apply by January 15!
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