Summer Science Academy (SSA) is a two-week summer enrichment program sponsored by the University of Michigan Medical School (UMMS) Diversity and Career Development Office (DCDO).  SSA brings together highly motivated rising 10th and 11th grade high school students from throughout Michigan to experience campus and medical school life. Current medical students and program alumni serve as student leaders and mentors. During the two-week session, these student leaders stay in the dorm with participants and provide classroom tutoring, intellectual and social stimulation, one-on-one and small group mentoring, and insight into college and medical school life. During the day, SSA participants attend classes taught by experts in the field and participate in fun-filled evening events highlighting cultural diversity, self-development, and the arts.

DCDO is committed to increasing the diversity – in the widest and most inclusive sense – of medical school enrollments and thereby helping to create a well-trained, diverse physician and health-professions workforce. All students with an interest in the health professions are encouraged to apply. In keeping with its goal of increasing the diversity (broadly defined) of medical school enrollments, DCDO particularly encourages applications from students who come from groups that are underrepresented in medicine. For instance, some applicants may come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds or from racial and ethnic groups that historically have been underrepresented in medicine, or may attend schools with largely socioeconomically disadvantaged or minority student bodies. Other applicants may come from parts of Michigan (such as rural areas) whose residents historically have been underrepresented in medicine or lacked access to medical services.

UMMS takes great pride in SSA and in the program’s ability to increase the opportunities for high school students to gain valuable exposure to the world of medicine. Over 85% of our Academy participants from the past 9 years enrolled in an institution of higher education; more than 50% of those at the University of Michigan. Today, 15% of our participants from 1995-1998 are enrolled in medical schools at the University of Michigan, Johns Hopkins, Michigan State, Mount Sinai, Meharry, Northwestern, University of Chicago, Columbia and Wayne State. Almost half of the SSA Alumni who entered medical school are at the University of Michigan, Other participants (12%) are pursuing advanced degrees or careers in dentistry, physical therapy, kinesiology, biomedical engineering, pharmacy and psychology to name a few.