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Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine

Outreach & Student Pathways

Overview

Building the Future of Medicine, Empowering Students, Working Together for Health Equity.

At the Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine, we strive to educate and nurture a diverse group of medical students to be competent, empathetic, leaders, and have cultural humility. We empower our students with tools and resources so they are able to medically care for people in the diverse communities we serve. Collaboration with our surrounding communities is essential for excellence in patient care, education and health research.

The college and its outreach and student pathways team, which is part of the Office of Student Affairs, are accomplishing these goals with a three-pronged strategy:

  1. Building pathway and outreach programs for K-12 and undergraduate students to attract more applicants to the medical school.
  2. Helping facilitate an environment congruent with the mission of the College of Medicine among faculty, staff and students.
  3. Working closely with the UH Mission Congruence and Admission committees in accordance with the College of Medicine's goals and values.

Welcome

Welcome to the University of Houston Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine! I am Dr. Kenya Steele, assistant dean of outreach and student pathways, here.

The College of Medicine is built on an important social mission – to improve the overall health and health care of Greater Houston, Texas and beyond. We are achieving this by addressing health inequities in underserved communities and the shortage of primary care physicians. A diverse and engaged workforce is essential to creating real health equity in our communities because it brings with it a diversity of ideas, experiences, representation, and solutions.

We want to reach as many young scholars as possible from our local communities. We want to show them pathways and opportunities to become doctors, and hopefully some of them will utilize these pathways to attend the College of Medicine.

Medical students from underserved areas are more likely to return to similar areas to practice as doctors, which helps decrease health disparities and improve health care. Both the students and our communities can grow and thrive.

The Outreach team works actively to create an environment that is welcoming for students, staff and faculty and provides outreach opportunities to reach a diverse body of students.

I believe our work at the college is a small start to decreasing health disparities and increasing health equity in our communities while improving health outcomes.

If there is any way we can be helpful to you or if you have any suggestions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me!

Sincerely,

Kenya Steele, M.D.

Initiatives and Programs

To reinforce our mission, the Fertitta Family College of Medicine is developing pathway and outreach programs to encourage talented K-12 and undergrad students to consider careers in the health professions, especially medicine.

 “We launched programs to help build a pathway into medical school for sudents in our surrounding communities. We also want to help prepare students from marginalized groups to get into medical school and to teach them about the social determinants of health.” ~  Assistant Dean of Outreach and Student Pathways Dr. Kenya Steele

News

  • STEM students examine a model of human internal organs in a lab setting.

    STEM Outreach for Future Doctors and Optometrists

    The University of Houston STEM Center, in collaboration with the UH Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine and the UH College of Optometry, is hosting students (grades 3-12) at a UH STEM Zone Saturday event, titled “Medicine and Health,” exploring the different areas of interest and career opportunities available in medicine and optometry. The event will take place 1-4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 27.

  • Q & A with UH College of Medicine’s Assistant Dean of Outreach & Student Pathways

    As assistant dean of outreach at the University of Houston College of Medicine, Dr. Kenya Steele’s work extends well beyond the classroom. Her work impacts not only the culture and curriculum at the college, but also the future communities our students will serve and future of the health care industry.

  • Building a Medical School Pathway

    As a child in a low-income neighborhood near Houston’s Third Ward, Reagan Scott saw the root causes of poor health firsthand. “We only had fast food and unhealthy food options in our area,” she said. “We had to drive up to 30 minutes to get to a good grocery store.”

Events

  • Health Career Collaborative Finale

    February 9, 2022 - Yates High School

    During the Health Career Collaborative Finale, Yates High School students presented research projects about a variety of health issues such as high blood pressure, schizophrenia and smoking. The students chose the health issues based on their interests.

  • STEM Zone Saturday

    April 9, 2022 - Virtual Event

    Second year medical students, Geina Iskander, presented virtually to over fifty K-12 students about the cardiovascular system. Iskander demonstrated how to build an at-home stethoscope.

  • Endeavour Program Presentation

    April 14, 2022 - UH Cullen College of Engineering

    Admissions and Outreach teams presented about the pathway to medical school and Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine to a group of Endeavour Program students. The Endeavour Program is a two-year scholarship program for first-time-in-college and full-time freshmen who have demonstrated academic excellence, demonstrated a financial need, and have been admitted to one of the following colleges at UH for the fall: Cullen College of Engineering, College of Natural Science & Mathematics, College of Technology.

Meet the Team

Kenya Steele, M.D.
Assistant Dean, Outreach & Student Pathways

Ashley Schwartz
Program Coordinator 2, Outreach

Contact Us

For more information about our outreach programs, please contact us at uhcomdo@uh.edu