Fifteen high school seniors from the Brentwood, Longwood, and Wyandanch school districts celebrated their “graduation” from Stony Brook Medicine’s Health Occupations Partnership for Excellence (HOPE) Program at a ceremony on May 9, 2017, in the Stony Brook University Health Sciences Tower.

Out of the 15, seven of the graduates – a record number from the HOPE program – will be staying at Stony Brook University and entering as freshmen in the fall to continue striving towards their aspirations.

Dean of Undergraduate Admissions (top, center) Judith Burke-Berhannan, with the seven HOPE “graduates” bound for Stony Brook this fall.

Under the mentorship of Stony Brook faculty, the two-year program fosters the academic development of 11th and 12th students  from underserved and racially and ethnically diverse communities and prepares them for future careers in the health industry.

At this year’s ceremony, the students expressed how much they learned from HOPE, frequently citing the thrill of shadowing doctors, seeing medical technology in action, learning from nurses about patient care, and the amazing breadth of the healthcare field.

“It was an amazing opportunity to have been given and I’m extremely grateful that I got to experience the medical field in such a direct and hands-on way,” said Brooke Alleyne from Longwood, who is one of the seven that will be attending Stony Brook University in the fall.

Read more: http://sb.cc.stonybrook.edu/news/medical/2017-05-11-hope-program-graduation-2017.php