As Rhode Island continues to face a shortage of health care workers, a first-of-its-kind program using students from Brown University’s medical school is attempting to spark an early interest in the field among Central Falls middle schoolers.
Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School has partnered with Central Falls’ Calcutt Middle School for the last three years on an in-school health clinic that also offers extensive mentoring to children who show an interest in entering the health care sector when they’re ready to join the workforce.
The program expands on Calcutt’s existing SMART Clinic – School Health Model for Academics Reaching All and Transforming Lives – which is operated by the Ginn Group Collaborative like a medical facility within the school, complete with exam rooms and labs, and is staffed by nurse practitioners, behavioral health specialists and nurses.
There are 16 SMART clinics in the U.S., including five in Rhode Island. But Calcutt is the only one in the country that’s a SMART Plus clinic, giving middle school students an opportunity to be mentored by medical students. The program is also available to Central Falls high schoolers and beyond.
In fact, several former SMART Plus participants have already enrolled in undergraduate programs that lead to medical school, according to Dr. Joseph Diaz, associate dean for diversity and multicultural affairs at Alpert Medical School and co-leader of Brown’s participation in the SMART Plus clinic.
“Those [results] get us excited, particularly since we have such a health care shortage in Rhode Island,” Diaz said. “The idea is to try to get Rhode Islanders engaged in health care so that they stay. They might go somewhere else for their professional schooling, but hopefully come back home and then have their careers as health care providers back in Rhode Island.”
In the past three years, hundreds of middle school and high school students have participated in SMART Plus programs in Rhode Island. Most of the programs are designed to give students a better sense of whether they would like to pursue a career in health care, be it as a doctor, lab technician, nurse or physical therapist, said Luckson Omoaregba, director of pathways programs at Alpert Medical School.
“A lot of what we’re trying to do is help students see themselves in careers in these fields,” Omoaregba said.
The programs vary by educational level and offer more hands-on learning experiences as students advance.
During the fall, there is a six-week after-school program called Meeting in the Middle, in which medical students volunteer to lead Calcutt eighth-graders through the ins and outs of different health professions. The youngsters can also attend a health fair where they meet doctors and nurses to learn about their jobs and career paths.
The program goes beyond middle schoolers, too. There is also the Pathways to Medicine program, in which high school students from across the state can be mentored by Alpert Medical School students, as well as those from Bryant University and Johnson & Wales University physician assistant programs and University of Rhode Island pharmacy and nursing students.
In addition, each spring, high school students can spend a week learning about surgical subspecialties such as neurosurgery, orthopedic and general surgeons, and OB-GYNs. During the program, called MEETS – mentorship, early exposure and training in surgery – students learn about the roles, skills involved and pathways to get there, as well as practice basic surgical techniques.
Also, in the summer months, there are several other programs in which high school students can continue learning about other specialties such as pathology and laboratory medicine. Along with this, programs offer students more hands-on experience in an anatomy lab and working with mock patients.
The SMART Plus program can continue beyond high school, too. College undergraduates interested in health care can simulate some of the curriculum they’d see in medical school and they can even attend lectures. Undergrads can learn more about the intricacies of other parts of patient care, such as how to interview a patient, conduct a physical exam and take vitals.
Omoaregba said the programs also help expose students from a wider variety of backgrounds to careers in health care.
“We recognize that it’s very, very important that to move medicine forward, to move health care forward, we need people from different communities,” Omoaregba said.
While the programs are mainly available to students in the Central Falls, Pawtucket and Providence school systems, Omoaregba said he’d like to expand them statewide. The only thing in the way is funding.
The five SMART Clinics – as well as a planned sixth clinic and the SMART Plus clinic at Calcutt – have been funded by contributions from CVS Health Corp., CVS Health Foundation, Partnership for Rhode Island, The Warren Alpert Foundation and Papitto Opportunity Connection. Over three years, it has cost more than $5 million.
Proponents say it’s been worth it. Attendance rates improved by 30% after Calcutt’s clinic was opened in 2022, and chronic absentee rates declined by 55%, according to Melanie Ginn, who created the SMART Clinic model and is CEO and president of Kentucky-based Ginn Group Collaborative.
“By bringing in the SMART Clinic, you are elevating the competency level and the propensity for children to be able to even pursue those careers,” Ginn said.
There are plans to open new SMART Clinics at Ella Risk Elementary School and the new Central Falls High School that are expected to open in 2026.
“A large percentage of our urgent care is keeping kids out of the emergency room and the stress from that and the loss of classroom time,” Ginn said. “Kids are staying in class and kids are learning.”
