History

In 1985, while teaching a graduate course on the United States health care system, I pointed out that people of color were inadequately represented in the fields of medicine, dentistry, nursing, etc., and argued that we might make better progress in eliminating growing racial and ethnic disparities in health if there were more providers who were African-American, Native-American and Hispanic. It occurred to me that the School of Public Health was not that much more diverse than the classes preparing students for medicine or dentistry. I became convinced that the Department of Health Management and Policy could certainly do something about the composition of students in our own department! Relying, in part, on the broad design of a summer program operated by the Association of University Programs in Health Administration in Washington, D.C. in the late 1970s and early 1980s, I developed the Summer Placement Opportunity Program.

In January 1986, with no funding, no staff, no placements, and most importantly, no students I began by calling the leaders of health care organizations in Detroit and Ann Arbor to generate interest and support. We were fortunate to secure thirteen paid summer internships for undergraduates were secured through these calls.  In short order, we put together an application form and began publicizing the program at University of Michigan and the other colleges and universities in Southeast Michigan. Since we had no money for housing or transportation and very little time to advertise the program anywhere else, thirteen U-M students were selected that year. Besides the internship, program components consisted of a brief orientation session and a series of Friday afternoon trips to visit various health centers, programs, and hospitals around Southeast Michigan. 
During the fall of 1988, I wrote a letter to Dr. Tom Bruce, then the Director of Health Programs at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan. A few weeks later, we received a commitment for $20,000. With support from Kellogg, we expanded the program in a variety of ways. First, we changed the name to the Summer Enrichment Program (SEP), and began to advertise nationally for students. Second, we secured on-campus housing for the participants, and were able to provide a small stipend for food. Third, we asked the larger health organizations for an additional sum to help pay for other program components (e.g. transportation), which enabled us to place students in grass-roots organizations that could not afford the cost of the stipend – local health departments, community health centers and other community-based organizations. Finally, we incorporated a key component to graduate school admission for many of the participants, a Graduate Record Examination preparation course. These changes enhanced SEP’s national reputation and established the framework that we still use today.

After 25 years, SEP now has 473 alumni! Many of these alumni have gone on to obtain graduate degrees in Health Management and Policy at the University of Michigan and other schools. Others have succeeded in different areas of public health, medicine, business, education, law, and public policy.  Many SEP graduates are now in leadership positions in health and health care organizations as CEO’s, COO’s and Vice Presidents.  Behind them are many more SEP alumni who are working their way up the administrative or policy hierarchies.

SEP is an idea with a proven history and an even more powerful future.  It has positively affected countless lives by nurturing 473 bright, committed individuals who want to give back to their communities and help eliminate health and social disparities. With the appropriate resources, support of U-M SPH and the community, SEP shall continue to inspire young people to expect the best of themselves and society. Twenty-six years ago diversity and inclusion were just concepts, and now with the help of SEP and its supporters, diversity and inclusion can be part of the daily concern of health systems across the country.

Let’s keep this force for unity going – here’s to the next 25 years of SEP!

Richard Lichtenstein, PhD, MPH
Founder and Director
Summer Enrichment Program in Health Management and Policy

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