Medical school receives Hughes grant

Thursday, June 26, 2003 | 8:59 a.m.

The University of Nevada Medical School has been awarded a grant to continue and expand outreach programs designed to interest younger students in sciences and health fields.

The $538,000 grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute will be administered over four years.

The Nevada school was one of 19 institutions selected for the grant out of 115 applicants.

One of the programs the money will fund is High School Medical Scholars, which offers high school juniors exposure to careers in science and health professions.

"Around 80 percent of kids in the Medical Scholars program have gone on to college," said Ann Diggins, recruitment and associate director of student services at the medical school.

Diggins added that about 62 percent of those have stayed within the health field.

Another program places science majors at the University of Nevada, Reno, and University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in elementary and middle school classrooms to teach the younger students.

"Having to teach younger students about science forces them to think about what they know in a much different way than just regurgitating it for a test or lab project," Diggins said.