HCMP 2000

Without a clinical rotation, the program was put on hold in the spring of 2000. The Health Careers Mentorship Program began the process of obtaining sponsorship from the University of Texas at Austin. The coordinators worked with UT Vice President and Provost Office, Carla Steinbomer.  In order to gain CTMF sponsorship, HCMP need liability partnership with U.T.  In order to gain U.T. sponsorship, HCMP required Faculty Advisors, authorization from administrators in Department, College, Dean of College, and Campus and Community Involvement. The program secured two faculty advisors: Dr. William Nethercut in the Classics Department in the College of Liberal Arts and Dr. Robert Spina in the Kinesiology Department in the College of Education.  After a lengthy process of paperwork and meetings, HCMP secured sponsorship from the University in the summer of 2000 that was followed by Central Texas Medical Foundation endorsing HCMP.  

During the sponsorship process, the campus newspaper The Daily Texan writes a small article about program.  Dr. Larry Carver Dean College of Liberal Arts extended Humanities 101 to interns for course credit.  Tom Turner became the new Texas Department of Health Volunteer Coordinator.  Central Texas Medical Foundation began to make arrangements for liability insurance.  The College of Liberal Arts and College of Education solidified their foundation of HCMP as sponsors.  Dr. Bryan Holland was chosen as the new Medical Director of CTMF. Mary Matus, GME Program Director, issued identification badges to interns. The Blackstock Family Health Center authorized lab coats for interns. 

As a result of the new sponsors, the program expanded from two to nine interns in the fall of 2000. The nine interns were: Erik Arhelger, Marisa Holmes, Sheri Maynard, Preeya Raghu, Steven Rodrigues, Charu Sawhney, Jennifer Schopp, Jill Vilaythong, and Holli White. Ernest Wong was extended the opportunity to work with Dr. Spina.

Before beginning of rotations, interns and coordinators participated in a ropes course in Georgetown to foster team support. The Daily Texan wrote a full-page layout about the program in the Focus Section. An article about the program written by interns and coordinators was published in the November/December issue of Travis County Medical Society Journal.  Interns participated in a Halloween Project at the Children's Hospital of Austin to design costumes for pediatric patients.  RTF majors from the University filmed a documentary about the program as they shadowed interns Holli White and Sheri Maynard.  Preceptor Dr. Tory Meyer, a pediatric surgeon at Children's was interviewed about his experience in the program. The program was presented at the Austin Medical Education Programs (previously CTMF) Faculty meeting in December.  Several administrative heads and residency program directors expressed interest in being part of the program.