Growing up in a majority Hispanic neighborhood in the Bronx, Aissata Samake saw no Lantinx or Black physicians, nor any who understood her ethnicity and traditions. Samake, a woman of color, intends to go to medical school, but she
admits to past feelings of doubt about her career choice. Having mentors who look like her has fostered her decision, she says.
“A Black woman in medicine motivated me to keep proceeding on the path of medicine, even when I felt
it was too hard,” Samake said, recalling an influential cell biology class professor. “It’s important that we have people of color supporting other, younger people of color, saying ‘you can do this, because I did it.’”
Samake was one of 28 people participating in the third annual Look at Larner event at the University of Vermont September 7–9, 2023. This medical student-led outreach program aims to serve aspiring medical students
from populations underrepresented in the profession of medicine, to help them envision their experience in medical school. Participants are in various phases of the medical admissions cycle, from undergraduate pre-med coursework, to preparing
for the Medical College Admissions Test, to submitting applications. They interact with current medical students who are from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine, meet medical faculty, attend classes, receive admissions advice, and explore
living in the Burlington area. First- through third-year medical students open their homes to host attendees.
The event allows participants “to see themselves as part of our community, and practicing medicine in Vermont,”
said Larner Class of 2026 medical student Shani Legore, one of three co-leaders of Look at Larner 2023 along with classmates Shrey Patel and Aina Rattu. Legore, who identifies as Afro-Caribbean, was a participant in the inaugural Look at Larner
in 2021. At that time, she was in the process of applying to medical schools and “feeling frustrated with the cycle,” she said. Look at Larner offered support and direction she needed to complete the process and put her on the path
to UVM: “I felt like I could see myself participating in active learning sessions, and I would be heard and seen. My vision of myself as a medical student became clearer.”
Look at Larner is one of several programs designed
to strengthen the pathway of students attending medical school for students from populations underrepresented in the profession of medicine. The Association of American Medical Colleges defines Underrepresented in Medicine (URiM) as racial and
ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the medical profession relative to their numbers in the general population. Larner College of Medicine expands this definition to include sexual and gender minorities, those identifying as transgender
or non-binary, and individuals from financially disadvantaged backgrounds.