UIC Urban Health Diversity Program

The Summer Residential Enrichment Program is designed for college students who have a minimum of ninety semester hours or college graduates who are interested in pursuing a career in public health. Housed at UIC School of Public Health, the Summer Residential Enrichment Program seeks to inspire and prepare underrepresented and economically disadvantaged undergraduate students, college graduates and those changing professions to pursue graduate education and professional degrees in public health. SREP will use a comprehensive approach focusing on key concepts of public health and will include interaction with mentors who are at the forefront of public health and will stimulate participating students to consider public health as a career option.

Program activities will be guided by the following principles:

• Eliminate health disparities between minority and non-minority segments of the U.S. population
• Improve public health practices by improving professional preparation of disadvantaged and underrepresented professional 
• Enhance the quality of public health practice by improving the professional preparation of disadvantaged and underrepresented minorities
• Recognize that minority leadership in public health is essential for addressing the myriad of public health efforts directed towards the prevention of disease and the organization of health care systems
• Participate in efforts to collect and analyze data that could characterize and address the adverse health problems in minority and underserved populations
• Recognize that the consideration of socio-cultural and environmental contexts is essential to addressing the needs of minority population

SREP participants will be required to complete a four module online course as part of the program curriculum. The four modules will take no more than 20 hours to complete. The course is free however no college credit will be awarded.

In addition, selected students will participate in the KAPLAN GRE Prep Course that is designed to assist prospective UIC School of Public Health applicants to prepare for the exam. The course will review the quantitative, verbal, and essay sections of the GRE in a structured and supportive environment. Class will meet one evening per week for the duration of the program.

Program stipend will be paid periodically as sections of the Summer Residential Enrichment Program are satisfactorily completed. This is a full-time experience selected students will be unable to hold additional internships, outside employment or take college credit courses during the program.

At the end of the eight-week program participants will be able to:

• Understand the theories and principles of biostatistics, community health science, environmental and occupational health science, epidemiology, and health policy administration
• Know the importance and practice of time management as well as test-taking strategies
• Develop the skills necessary for public health advocacy
• Prepare a poster presentation describing their preceptorship site experience and abstract that is relevant to health issues confronting underrepresented and disadvantaged communities
• Identify the various educational pathways that could lead to careers in public health
• Recognize and appreciate the role of research and clinical trials in public health efforts 
• Earn two credits towards the UIC Human Subject Protections Program Continuing
• Register for the Graduate Records Exam and earn a competitive score 
• Identify and discuss areas of health disparity among the US ethnic and racial populations
• Collect, enter and analyze data and prepare simple statistic frequencies

Application Information:

Download the application here.