It’s a program only available to a select group of high school students from across Arizona – The Summer Institute on Medical Ignorance. The University of Arizona College of Medicine program gives students a taste of what it’s like to work in the medical and science research fields.

The program is designed to give young people the opportunity to discover things about science and medicine that could change all of our lives. “The first thing we tell them…as of now, you’re not kids anymore,” says Project Director Dr. Marlys Witte. “This summer you’re grown-ups, working in a professional environment.”

The high school students get everything a professional would. “They’re being paid minimum wage, because most of these kids would have to be flipping burgers,” says Witte. “They could not afford to have a summer without working.”

Most of the participants are financially, socially, or educationally disadvantaged high school students. “It’s teaching students what science is all about, and what the life of a scientist and a physician is all about, and that it’s all about unanswered questions and unquestioned answers,” says Witte.

Sixteen high school students are participating this year, working with doctors and scientists. Ernesto Duran just finished his sophomore year at Amphitheater High School. “I came in knowing absolutely nothing, zero,” he says. Now he knows about genetic diseases. “It was probably one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had, because it gave me some real experience seeing what it would be like in a laboratory one day,” he says.

Kathleen Manual, a senior at Baboquivari High School in Ajo wants to do diabetes research one day. She says her grandmother has diabetes and is not doing well. Kathleen and her peers hope this program will help them make amazing discoveries one day.

The program has been offered at the U of A for 20 years. Some of the participants have gone on to pursue careers in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and veterinary medicine. The program is also offered to medical students.