The Summer Mentorship Program (SMP) is a unique initiative designed for high school students who are Indigenous or identify as Black African, Black Caribbean, Black North American, or multi-racial with connections to Black heritage. Participants join hands-on activities, experiments, lectures, and specialized projects led by professionals at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. They explore fields such as Nursing, Public Health, Social Work, Dentistry, Kinesiology, Physiotherapy, and Medicine, among others. Additionally, participants can shadow professionals during clinical placements at hospitals across the Greater Toronto Area. Each student is paired with a mentor—an undergraduate or recent graduate from a health sciences program—offering personalized guidance on post-secondary pathways.
Focus
- Access and transition: promote successful academic and social transitions to post-secondary education
- Outreach and Engagement: increase awareness and understanding of post-secondary pathways
Features
- Academic success
- Career exploration
- Community engagement
- Participant incentive(s) (e.g., expense reimbursement, bursaries, scholarships)
- Tutoring & mentorship
Timeframe
- Summer
Participants
Ages
- High school students
Groups
- First-generation students
- Indigenous students
- Low-income students
- Racialized students
- Secondary school students with low credit accumulation and/or achievement rates
- Students from communities with limited access to post-secondary education (e.g. rural or remote communities)