Alumni of the Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Health Career Opportunity Programs of UConn Health on Oct. 3 and 4. Several current and former professors were honored for leading four decades of the organization, nurturing Connecticut youth with dreams as they grow into healthcare professionals.

The Health Career Opportunity Programs (HCOP) provide exposure to the health sciences and career path mentorship to middle school, high school, and college students. The programs range from an after-school Doctors Academy for middle schoolers, to summer research programs for high schoolers, to preparatory classes for college graduates planning on taking the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) or the Dental Aptitude Test (DAT). Most of the students in the early grades come from urban school systems in central Connecticut, and HCOP mentors them as they grow.

“When I was in college, I knew I wanted to do something in science,” says Dr. Janelle Mallett, UConn School of Medicine dermatologist. Then she did the HCOP summer research program for college students. “That helped me solidify that I wanted to go into medicine,” Mallett says. She is one of the organizers of this year’s alumni reunion. The event featured speed mentoring of high school students involved in the Saturday Doctor’s Academy program, followed by a gala honoring the HCOP anniversary on Saturday evening. On Sunday current students accompanied alumni on a walk through of the medical and dental schools to see how much has changed and expanded over the years.

HCOP began in 1986. Board of Trustees distinguished professor and associate dean of health career opportunity programs Dr. Marja Hurley ’72 (CLAS), ’76 MD, had recently returned to UConn’s School of Medicine after a stint practicing internal medicine in New York City. She had noticed during her medical education at UConn that there weren’t many students from urban backgrounds. Things hadn’t changed much in the meantime. Hurley thought it was a real lack, and something UConn could actively do something about. Hurley, with the support of then School of Medicine dean Eugene Sigman, and National Institutes of Health and legislative funding, instituted early versions of some HCOP programs in 1986, but immediately recognized more funding was needed.

Later on in the 1990s, Dr. Peter Deckers, then executive vice president of health affairs and dean of medicine, invited Hurley to become associate dean for the Health Career Opportunity Programs. They began a multi-year campaign to raise awareness of the gap in students from urban backgrounds, working with the leadership of the American Medical Colleges to get the word out. They brought together the superintendent of Hartford public schools with the leadership of UConn, UConn Health, Central Connecticut State University, and Wesleyan University to write a proposal to expand HCOP. Their efforts led to UConn being one of 10 medical schools chosen for funding by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in 1996.

The subsequent decades have seen HCOP expand the number of programs and the number of students reached with more than 1000 matriculating to schools for health professions and graduate programs in biomedical sciences. The Saturday Doctor’s Academy course that held the speed mentoring day with alumni is one of 14 programs HCOP now runs. The HCOP programs called the Aetna Health Professions Partnership Initiative were endowed by the Aetna Foundation and the John and Valerie Rowe Foundation.

“So many students have been able to fulfill their dreams and can now mentor and lift as they climb,” Hurley says.

Hurley was honored at the Saturday evening gala along with longtime associate HCOP director Boake Plessy.