Source: BCM.edu

“What they see is what they’ll be” is the mantra for the 100 Black Men of Metropolitan Houston, an organization with the expressed purpose of improving the quality of life for African-Americans and other minorities. Karif Carroll has extended that motto into Mentoring to Medicine, a program that allows young African-American middle and high school students an opportunity to visit a medical school and see African-American physicians who have made the journey to become doctors. Motivated by the data from a 2014 report done by the Association of American Medical Colleges, which indicated the number of African-Americans applying to medical school was lower compared to what it was 40 years prior, Carroll believed it was important to tackle health disparities in the African-American community. The students also participated in 45-minute breakout sessions where one or two mentors spoke to them about the importance of having good study habits and good grades.