The University of Michigan Summer Enrichment Program in Health Management and Policy (SEP) was initiated by Dr. Richard Lichtenstein in 1986. Dr. Lichtenstein, who teaches courses on the US Health Care System in the University of Michigan's Department of Health Management and Policy (HMP), determined that the small percentage of students of color in the Department's Master of Health Services Administration program was unacceptably low. He believed that there had to be a diverse student body is such programs if one hoped to be successful in teaching all students about the relationship between income, race, ethnicity and health. Thus, he started the SEP as a way to increase the diversity of the student body in HMP. The original goals of the program were: to introduce undergraduate students of color to the field of health management and policy; to encourage the students to consider this field as an exciting and personally gratifying career option; and to motivate the students to receive further training in a graduate program in health management and policy as the entry point into this career.
Since its inception, the criteria for eligibility for the program have been modified several times. Today, the program is directed at all students who are interested in eliminating racial ethnic and socioeconomic health disparities in the US.
