P3.179: High School Outreach in Underserved West Texas Inspires Future Women Physicians

Background: Gender disparity persists in medicine. Despite recent trends in increasing female medical student numbers, disparities manifest in the form of stigma, pay gaps, and leadership position ratios. Representation is vital for patient care, and through this multi-faceted project, we seek to make the field of medicine more accessible and attainable for women, starting in underserved communities in West Texas.

Project Description: The American Medical Women’s Association at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine organized a half-day outreach event for high school girls, grades 9-12. The invitation to participate in the cost-free event was extended to 38 high schools in Lubbock, Texas and surrounding rural communities within one hour of travel.
The event featured seven medicine-related activities and a panel from healthcare professionals. Medical students guided the interactive lessons in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), ultrasounds of thyroids and wrists, centrifugal force applications, population modeling and epidemiology, nutrition, blood pressure, and patient simulations of asthma and atrial fibrillation. Professionals in the panel were a pediatrician, physiatrist, transplant surgeon, and occupational therapist.
Anonymous pre- and post-event surveys measured participants’ interest and learning pertaining to the event’s objectives of empowering high school girls in healthcare careers.

Discussion: Statistical comparisons between 13 pre-survey and 10 post-survey responses reported an improvement in scores in all categories that assessed high school girls’ attitudes and aspirations towards careers in medicine. Girls self-reported positive learning experiences in all activities with the most learning in the CPR lesson. Participants expressed knowledge improvement of primary care, surgery, nursing, physical therapy, and occupational therapy with statistically significant differences in primary care and occupational therapy.
Further survey questions evaluated the event’s impact on girls’ self-belief and barriers to higher education. 30% of post-survey respondents would be the first in their family to attend college, 75% of pre-survey respondents marked finances as a barrier to higher education, and 33% of pre-survey respondents did not know how to start a healthcare career. At the conclusion of the event, girls were more confident in their belongingness in healthcare, and they expressed increased interest in pursuing higher education and healthcare professions.

Conclusion: Outreach events are beneficial and worthwhile endeavors for inspiring the next generation of women physicians. In the underserved high schools of West Texas, culture largely prevents students from attending college and breaking family norms. We encourage outreach to empower students and demonstrate that girls belong in medicine.