Youth Community Outreach

Mini-Med School brings an abridged version of medical school to participating community members. Offered by the School of Medicine, the program lets the community experience the process a person goes through in becoming a physician. The program is open to high school students, UVA faculty and staff members, community members, and anyone who would like to learn more about the medical profession.

During the seven-week program UVA faculty members, assisted by current medical students, lead the group in exploring of a wide range of topics in medical education. Participants experience such integral parts of medical school as active learning presentations, patient interviews, research labs and Match Day.

The experiences promote health literacy and broader understanding of the health care system, increases awareness of the UVA Health System’s mission in our community, encourages future collaboration with community organizations, and understand the impact of biomedical science and research and clinical trials.

Summer Opportunities in Academic Research (SOAR) is an 8-week summer program for high school students in Charlottesville and Albemarle County seeking to immerse themselves in an exciting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) research environment. SOAR aims to provide hands-on research and academic experience to high school-level students who are “under-represented” in STEM, as defined by NIH guidelines. Participating students are paired with research mentors at the University of Virginia (UVA) and introduced to numerous topics and career avenues in science and medicine during morning didactic sessions and afternoon research in mentor labs. Through these experiences, SOAR encourages high school students to pursue careers in science through education and mentoring in biomedical research.