This year marks the tenth anniversary for Loma Linda Health’s Gateway Program, formerly known as Sí Se Puede. Gateway is spearheaded by the Institute for Community Partnerships. The purpose of the Gateway program is to expose minority high school students to the large variety of health care professions. During the two-week program, students interact with different health care professionals and do hands-on activities relating to medicine, allied health and many other fields.
On July 26, this year’s Gateway program culminated with a 10th anniversary celebration and graduation program in Wong Kerlee International Conference Center.
Juan Carlos Belliard, PhD, assistant vice president, community partnerships and diversity, welcomed the students, their families and more than 400 guests.
Richard Hart, MD, DrPH, spoke about the history and significance of the program, and Leslie Pollard, PhD, DMin, MBA, president of Oakwood University in Alabama, urged Gateway participants to “keep moving forward.” Pollard was vice president for diversity at Loma Linda University Health when Si Se Puede began under his leadership.
More than 600 Gateway alumni were invited to the program, and many of those who attended were pictured in posters from each year. The audience watched slideshows of both the current Gateway class and photos from each of the previous nine years. The photos were powerful, depicting the first time students had been given the opportunity to learn about many of the career opportunities in the health professions.
The program started with 15 students per class and has grown to 60-plus. It has also grown from a one-week program with one day of shadowing to a two-week program with an extra week of shadowing and a full day of service.
During the celebration, five Gateway alumni were awarded scholarships. They are Daniel Samano, now in his fourth year of medical school at Loma Linda University; Sierra Sicairos, who has been accepted into the radiation technology program in the School of Allied Health Professions; Ruth Claros, a medical student at Wright State University, Ohio; Cinthia Palomino, a graduate of the School of Nursing who is now working at the Behavioral Medicine Center; and Romario Garcia Bautista, a student of journalism and business at University of Oregon.
Over the past decade, Gateway has given 641 students the opportunity to experience something that they probably never had a chance to do before. Most students come from low socioeconomic backgrounds and Gateway was likely their first real exposure to seeing health care as an attainable career.
Gateway is an example of building bridges between the university and the community. Through engaging families of San Bernardino in conversation, relationships started, opening doors to share needs as well as hopes. As these connections are nurtured, real change begins.
What can you do? Get involved in your community! “Invite a student to shadow you at your workplace, be a host family for students taking part in programs like Gateway, or share your experience at school career days,” says Tina Pruna, MPH, Gateway coordinator.
“Everything you do can give students the chance to see possibilities they did not see before,” says Belliard. “As we continue building bridges between Loma Linda University Health and the community, we continue empowering students — the future of health care.”
Belliard emphasizes that interventions such as Gateway have a tremendous impact on wholeness that extends beyond its participants.
“We know that a higher level of education and income leads to better health outcomes,” he says. “So in a way, this is one of the most important things Loma Linda University Health can do to improve the health and future of our community.”
Note: Writer David Hutabarat is interim program coordinator, Community-Academic Partners in Service (CAPS) at Loma Linda University Health.