ULMSP is an adaptation of the Stanford Medical Youth Science Program, which was established in 1988 at Stanford University to prepare high school students to pursue a college education and complete their study in the biological and physical sciences.
Dr. Sandra Daley along with Ms. Mae Brown, UC San Diego Registrar, founded ULMSP in 2001 as a health workforce development program that assists community college students from disadvantaged backgrounds in making a successful transfer to the university and to enter the health professions. The California Endowment, the state’s largest health foundation, awarded a grant to the University of California, San Diego and UC San Diego School of Medicine to establish the UniversityLink Medical Sciences Program (ULMSP). Additional funding for programming has been granted through the Health Careers Opportunity Program, San Diego Regional Consortium (HCOP/SDRC), funded by the Health Resource and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
As a result of new funding received in 2018, UCSD SOM has entered into a partnership with the San Diego State University (SDSU) Pre-College Institute (PCI), the San Diego Border Area Health Education Center (SD/ AHEC)/Scripps Family Medicine Residency Program, the San Diego and Imperial Valley Community Colleges Association, Sweetwater Union High School District, Grossmont Union High School District, and San Diego Unified School District to establish the Health Careers Opportunity Program, San Diego Regional Consortium (HCOP/SDRC) and established the National HCOP Academies. The goal of the HCOP/SDRC is to significantly increase the number of qualified disadvantaged students from urban and rural areas that enter the region’s health care workforce. It utilizes a Comprehensive Approach to conduct structured yearlong Saturday and Summer Academies for Grades 11-12, community college (2 yrs.), university (4 yrs.), and post-baccalaureate and pre-matriculating medical students.
