This opportunity is for freshman and sophomores (completing their first degree) ONLY. I would be deeply grateful if you could bring to the attention of your premed students the opportunities that the UVA Summer Medical and Dental Education Program (UVA SMDEP) offers. Please note that UVA SMDEP is open only to freshmen and sophomore premed students. For a more detailed description of UVA SMDEP, please refer your freshmen and sophomore premed students to our homepage on the web, which contains the application and other information. Our address is as follows: http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/academic-support Our website also has a copy of the manual, "A Road MAAP to the Medical Promised Land: An Advising Manual." We believe your premed students can benefit greatly from the information in the manual. Please encourage your students to go on-line and read all of the instructions carefully before completing the application. I strongly recommend that they apply as soon as possible since our admission is on a rolling basis. We have already started admitting students from December 2008. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call me at 434-243-6165 or e-mail: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>. I deeply appreciate your help with this. I am pleased to share with you the following information related to the success of our partnership in increasing the representation of individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds in medicine: Data from our participant tracking system currently indicate that since 1984, 2,499 participants have been served; of whom 450 have already obtained their M.D. degrees; 22 of the past participants are medical school faculty including a chairman of Ophthalmology, two assistant deans, an associate director for a residency program in medicine, and an assistant director for a residency program in Obstetrics and Gynecology. There was also a recent article on the program in the publication "UVA Innovation" entitled "Helping Future Doctors Believe in Themselves" http://medicine.virginia.edu/innovation/v2n2/Believe.html Your partnership with us in this very important endeavor, over the years, is deeply appreciated. Thank you for making a difference! I would like to use this opportunity to inform you that I will be retiring on July 1, 2009. Dr. M. Norman Oliver, Associate Dean for Diversity, Director of the Center on Health Disparities, Associate Professor, Departments of Family Medicine, Public Health Sciences, and Anthropology, has been appointed to replace me as the UVA SMDEP Principal Investigator and Director effective March 1, 2009. Dr. Oliver has been very involved with the program for many years. I will assist Dr. Oliver before and after my retirement as needed. With warmest personal wishes. Take care. Sincerely, Moses Moses K.A. Woode, Ph.D., D.I.C., FAIC Associate Dean for Student Academic Support and Strategic Programs Professor of Medical Education Principal Investigator and Director, UVA SMDEP Office: 434-982-1867 Office: 434-243-6161 Fax: 434-982-1917 Web Page: http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/academic-support/ PO Box 800446 University of Virginia School of Medicine Charlottesville, VA 22908-0446 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the PREMEDINFO-L List, please send an E-mail to:"[log in to unmask]". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF PREMEDINFO-L".