Alumni Highlights

Quotes from Past High School Students

“I really liked meeting my mentor and having time to talk with them about their careers and projects. I appreciated the informality as it helped me gain a better and deeper understanding of who my mentor was.”

“I loved it so much… I learned a lot of things you usually do not learn in high school and it felt nice to have something with me that I was able to put to use once I got back to school. Also, lunch with Dr. Chen gave me insight on how life as a surgeon is and it also motivated and taught me that I can pursue my dreams and turn them into reality. The seminars were well worth it and I would recommend it for every high school student that attends this program. Even if they do not want to pursue a career in medicine it is still a good and useful tool to take back with them.”

“I believe that this is a once in a lifetime experience for me and so far I am loving every single moment of it.”

“Being exposed to all of the different careers I can potentially pursue in medicine provided me with a deeper knowledge on what academic path I should follow.”

“When shadowing a surgeon, I discovered just how important they are and how they impact the lives of their patients. I learned it takes lots of commitment and practice to be in the healthcare field.”

“My experience with this internship has been so great and insightful I know that I want to go into the medical field and pursue more research.”

“It was unforgettable and inspiring.”

“This internship blew my mind. It destroyed my expectations and every new day made me even happier because I applied. This summer has been such an amazing experience and I am forever thankful to Sarah, Kelly, and Dr. Long for all the help and opportunities they provided me with this summer. They made this my favorite summer ever.”

 

Alumni Highlights: Where are they now?

Since 2012:

• 96 Students have completed the program
• 8 are still in high school
• 80 accepted to college (37 at UW Madison)
• 1 has gone on to Medical School
• 1 accepted to NP school
• 2 graduated and work in Social work/Family Studies
• 43 are pursuing STEM, Healthcare, or Nursing Degrees
• 12 Continued to actively engage in research including 8 in our Doris Duke Undergraduate program

 

In the News

2023: Faith Ocoko, a participant of both the high school and undergraduate continuum programs, was one the one of the senior speakers for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Class of 2023. That story can be found on UW-Madison’s News, in the Daily Cardinal, and on YouTube.

2013: Wisconsin State Journal

 

Presentations

Beilke SR, Alcantara J, Liepert AE. Surgeon Engagement in Surgical Health Policy Advocacy (SHPA).  Wisconsin Surgical Society Annual Meeting. Kohler, WI. November 2018 (Poster)

Bell K, Pugh C.  Silicone-rubber as a viable, cheaper alternative to current commercial simulated bowels.  Academic Surgical Congress, Jacksonville, FL. February 2018. (Podium presentation)

Timmel A, Cartmill RS, Carrera-Valdez J, Rademacher B, Kohler JE.  Physician Calls to Pediatric General Surgeons – Foundational Data to Guide Future Interventions.  Wisconsin Surgical Society Annual Meeting. Kohler, WI. November 2018  (Quickshot Presentation)

Eruchalu E, Le H.  Vessel Characterization of Native and Decellularized Plant Scaffolds.  Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS). Indianapolis. 2018

Cusack MC, Venkatesh M, Pontes A, Shea G, Svoboda D, Liu N, Greenberg J, Lidor A, Funk L.  Association Between Intraoperative leak testing and 30-Day Outcomes after Bariatric Surgery.  Houston, TX. Academic Surgical Congress 2019

Cusack M, Venkatesh M, Pontes AL, Shea GE, Svoboda DC, Liu N, Greenberg JA, Lidor AO, Funk LM.  Differences in 30-day outcomes following intraoperative leak testing in patients undergoing laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy or Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass. Wisconsin Surgical Society Annual Meeting. Kohler, WI. November 2018  (Podium Presentation)

Liu N, Cusack MC, Venkatesh M, Pontes AL, Shea G, Svoboda DC, Greenberg JA, Lidor AO, Funk LM.  30-Day Outcomes After Intraoperative Leak Testing for Bariatric Surgery Patients. J Surg Res. 2019 Oct;242:136-144.  PMC6679992

Yang N, Saucke MC, Marka N, Hanlon B, McDow AD, Long KL, Pitt SC.  Adoption of active surveillance: analysis of a large national cohort of physicians.  American Thyroid Association. Chicago. Nov 2019. (Poster)

Jacqueline Zuniga Paiz (pictured below) had an accepted abstract at Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) for 2019.

 

Publications (most recent, descending order)

Krecko LK, Jung S. Impacts of a Clinical Research Program for High School Students from Groups Historically Excluded from Science and Medicine. Health Equity. 2022 Nov 25;6(1):873-880. doi: 10.1089/heq.2022.0050. PMID: 36479185; PMCID: PMC9712034.

Mhlaba JM, Pontes DS, Patterson SS, Kundu RV. Evaluation of a Skin of Color Curriculum for Dermatology Residents. J Drugs Dermatol. 2021 Jul 1;20(7):786-789. doi: 10.36849/JDD.6193. PMID: 34232004.

Espinosa ML, Nguyen MT, Aguirre AS, Martinez-Escala ME, Kim J, Walker CJ, Pontes DS, Silverberg JI, Choi J, Pro B, Pincus LB, Guitart J, Zhou XA. Progression of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma after dupilumab: Case review of 7 patients. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2020 Jul;83(1):197-199. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2020.03.050. Epub 2020 Mar 27. PMID: 32229275; PMCID: PMC7302979.

Murray SE, Pathak PR, Pontes DS, Schneider DF, Schaefer SC, Chen H, Sippel RS. Timing of symptom improvement after parathyroidectomy for primary hyperparathyroidism. Surgery. 2013 Dec;154(6):1463-9. doi: 10.1016/j.surg.2013.09.005. Epub 2013 Oct 4. PMID: 24238059; PMCID: PMC3860985.

Bauer PS, Murray S, Clark N, Pontes DS, Sippel RS, Chen H. Unilateral thyroidectomy for the treatment of benign multinodular goiter. J Surg Res. 2013 Sep;184(1):514-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2013.04.045. Epub 2013 May 11. PMID: 23688788; PMCID: PMC3759563.