High School Students Graduate from Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University MINDS Program

Fifteen students selected from competitive pool complete 6-week program with hands-on learning, immersion in community programs

The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University is proud to celebrate the graduation of 15 outstanding high school students who participated in the Medical Internship Navigating Diversity & Science (MINDS) Program.

“Our mission is to create a physician workforce that is capable of delivering excellent clinical care and optimal health to all individuals – irrespective of their socioeconomic status - and one that reflects the communities we are so privileged to serve,’’ said Bonita Stanton, M.D., founding dean of the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University.

Fifteen students were selected from a competitive applicant pool of 248 New Jersey high school students who are from underrepresented backgrounds and engaged in hands-on learning which included: how to suture with surgeons, motivational interviewing with clinical psychologists and working in the Emergency Room at Hackensack University Medical Center to interview patients affected by homelessness, domestic violence and substance abuse.

“This internship provides gifted students with an opportunity to experience hands-on learning from dedicated physicians and allied health professionals from underrepresented communities and helps us achieve a goal of working to ensure future physicians mirror the communities where they practice,’’ said David S. Kountz, M.D., MBA, FACP, Associate Dean of Diversity and Equity at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University.

This year’s theme, How your Home Affects Your Health, follows the School of Medicine’s mission of engagement and vision of health equity. A key goal of the innovative curriculum is to eliminate disparities in health outcomes, regardless of socio-economic and other factors.

“We are committed to supporting students from underrepresented communities so they can harness their talents and help create a field of medical professionals as diverse as our population in New Jersey and beyond,’’ said Asia McCleary-Gaddy, Ph.D, director of Diversity & Equity at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University.

The interns visited the New Community Center’s Harmony House and met with Seton Hall alumna, Arti Kakkar, the organization’s Chief of Health and Human Services, to understand how homelessness affects women and children. The East Orange Veterans Affair and Essex County LGBT Rain Foundation also welcomed the interns to educate them in how homelessness affects veterans and LBGTQ youth.

In addition to medical knowledge, an integral component of the internship is college readiness. Students received a public speaking course, SAT tutoring and Basic Life Support and training in how to dispense Narcan, an opioid antidote.

The internship took place from July 16 through August 23.

The following students from New Jersey high schools participated:

Kyla Belton, 11th grade, Jonathan Dayton High School, Springfield.

Alexander Berman, 12th grade, County Prep High School, Jersey City.

Brook Lin Figueroa, 11th grade, Christ the King Prep, Newark.

Christian Herbert, 11th grade, East Orange Campus High School.

Nazyia Johnson, 11th grade, East Orange STEM Academy.

Camillah Nigatu, 12th grade, Belleville High School.

Elsa Nyongesa, 11th grade, Piscataway Vocational Tech High.

Deborah Obiajulu, 11th grade, Academy Allied Health Sciences, Scotch Plains.

Ailyn Onofre, 12th grade, Passaic High School.

Ayreanna Pettijohn, 12th grade, Union County Vocational Technical High School.

Jayline Ramirez, 12th grade, Union City High School.

Santiago Salinas, 12th grade, West Orange High School.

Indira Summerville, 12th grade, Morristown High School.

Jordan Walker, 12th grade, West Orange High School.

Rena Walton, 12th grade, Academy for Allied Health Sciences, Scotch Plains.

ABOUT HACKENSACK MERIDIAN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT SETON HALL UNIVERSITY

The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University is designed to produce exceptional physicians who truly understand what drives health and disease, who integrate technology and systems into their thinking and practice, and who are able to improve the health outcomes of all populations. The School of Medicine offers an innovative, team-based approach to medical education that mirrors the future of health care. Our students will learn to apply the most advanced scientific knowledge and tools so that, as practicing physicians, they are prepared to help patients in the communities where they live – not just in hospital and clinics.

Our rigorous academic curriculum combines traditional science with a focus on the new frontiers in medicine – genetics, population health and preventive care. Additionally, our program grants students the option of completing their studies in three years so that they can start their residencies in their fourth year, an option that significantly reduces the cost of a medical education.

Hackensack Meridian Health and Seton Hall University embarked on this joint venture to create a world-class medical school to address the critical shortage of physicians and to address dynamic changes in health care that require a new approach to medical education. The school is become the first private medical school to open in New Jersey in many decades. One of the country's leading Catholic universities, Seton Hall University has been developing students in mind, heart and spirit since 1856. Hackensack Meridian Health is the largest and most comprehensive health network in New Jersey, offering a complete range of medical services, innovative research and life-enhancing care.

The new medical school is co-located with Seton Hall’s College of Nursing and School of Health and Medical Sciences on a state-of-the-art Interprofessional Health Sciences (IHS) campus in Nutley and Clifton, N.J.

About Hackensack Meridian Health

Hackensack Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization that is the most comprehensive and truly integrated health care network in New Jersey, offering a complete range of medical services, innovative research and life-enhancing care. Hackensack Meridian Health comprises 16 hospitals, including three academic medical centers, two children's hospitals and nine community hospitals, two rehabilitation hospitals, physician practices, more than 180 ambulatory care centers, surgery centers, home health services, long-term care and assisted living communities, ambulance services, lifesaving air medical transportation, fitness and wellness centers, rehabilitation centers, and urgent care facilities. Hackensack Meridian Health has 33,000 team members, more than 6,500 physicians and is a distinguished leader in health care philanthropy, committed to the health and well-being of the communities it serves.

The Network's notable distinctions include having one of only five major academic medical centers in the nation to receive Healthgrades America's 50 Best Hospitals Award for five or more consecutive years, four hospitals ranked among the top 10 in New Jersey, including Hackensack University Medical Center, the No. 1 hospital, Jersey Shore University Medical Center at No. 4 and Ocean and Riverview Medical Centers tied at No. 8., as ranked by U.S. News and World Report. Other honors include consistently achieving Magnet® recognition for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, recipient of the John M. Eisenberg Award for Patient Safety and Quality from The Joint Commission and the National Quality Forum, a six-time recipient of Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For," one of the "20 Best Workplaces in Health Care" in the nation, and the number one "Best Place to Work for Women." Hackensack Meridian Health is a member of AllSpire Health Partners, an interstate consortium of leading health systems, to focus on the sharing of best practices in clinical care and achieving efficiencies.

For additional information, please visit www.HackensackMeridianHealth.org.

ABOUT SETON HALL UNIVERSITY

One of the country’s leading Catholic universities, Seton Hall has been developing students in mind, heart and spirit since 1856. Home to nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students and offering more than 90 rigorous academic programs, Seton Hall’s academic excellence has been singled out for distinction by The Princeton Review, U.S. News & World Report and Bloomberg Businessweek.

Seton Hall embraces students of all religions and prepares them to be exemplary servant leaders and global citizens. In recent years, the University has achieved extraordinary success. Since 2009, it has seen record-breaking undergraduate enrollment growth and an impressive 93-point increase in the average SAT scores of incoming freshmen. In the past decade, Seton Hall students and alumni have received 24 Fulbright Scholarships as well as other prestigious academic honors, including Boren Awards, Pickering Fellowships, Udall Scholarships and a Rhodes Scholarship. In the past five years, the University has invested more than $150 million in new campus buildings and renovations. And in 2015, Seton Hall launched a School of Medicine as well as a College of Communication and the Arts. A founding member of the Big East Conference, the Seton Hall Pirates field 14 NCAA Division I varsity sports teams.

The University’s beautiful main campus is located in suburban South Orange, New Jersey, and is only 14 miles from New York City — offering students a wealth of employment, internship, cultural and entertainment opportunities. Seton Hall’s nationally recognized School of Law is prominently located in downtown Newark. The University’s new Interprofessional Health Sciences (IHS) campus in Clifton and Nutley, N.J. will open in the summer of 2018. The IHS campus will house University’s College of Nursing and School of Health and Medical Sciences and will be co-located with the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University.

For more information, visit www.shu.edu.

Media may also contact Mary Jo Layton, Manager of Media Relations at Hackensack Meridian Health at Maryjo.layton@hmhn.org 201-396-4499, or Laurie Pine, Director of Media Relations at Seton Hall University at Laurie.Pine@shu.edu 973-378-2638.