The Teaching Team
The teaching team consists of: fourth-year medical student coordinators; physician advisors; first-year medical student teachers; and undergraduate student teaching assistants (TA).
Medical Student Coordinators
Each summer, the Pipeline Program recruits two senior medical students to serve as coordinators for each grade’s curriculum. These medical students have completed pre-clinical courses related to the curriculum that they will teach, and have expressed an interest in academic medicine and mentoring youth.
Physician Advisors
In the fall, physicians—faculty members, residents, and fellows— oversee the development of each curriculum. They work with the medical student coordinators to create the clinical vignettes around which classes are structured. They may also give preparatory lectures to the medical students and undergraduates in order to enrich their understanding of the subject matter and help them generate ideas for teaching the high school lessons. Physicians also intermittently attend the high school class sessions, serving as a teaching resource for the medical students and undergraduates.
First-year Medical Student Teachers
Just prior to the start of Pipeline Program at the medical school begins in the spring, the senior medical students recruit first-year medical students to help lead the classes for the high school students. The first-year students are taking the pre-clinical courses at the same time that they teach the Pipeline course, and also have an interest in mentoring young people.
Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (TA)
The Netter Center works to identify undergraduate students to act as TAs. Undergraduate students who excel as educators and mentors in the fall-semester curriculum are encouraged to fill the undergraduate TA positions available in the Pipeline spring-semester program. Each undergraduate TA leads a small group of two to four high school students during class activities. These small groups are maintained throughout the semester, facilitating strong mentoring relationships between the undergraduates and high school students.
Approximately half of each 75-minute class is run by the medical students, while half is dedicated to small group lessons or activities run by the undergraduates.